


The Alice Cullen File (Twilight Reimagined)

by Mweir1990



Series: Stephanie Meyers Reimagined [1]
Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: 1920s, Attempted Murder, Canon Rewrite, Car Chases, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Mutual Pining, Non-Consensual Electroconvulsive Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:34:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 75,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23413147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mweir1990/pseuds/Mweir1990
Summary: Twilight has been reimagined time and time again. Well in this version, Mary Alice Brandon stops the murder of her mother but is sent to the insane Asylum anyway for confronting her father about the affair he was having behind her mother's back. Based on the Mary Alice Brandon File and The Groundskeeper (all part of the Storytellers saga), we follow her life from the time she was bitten by her maker to the present time in Twilight. There's some major canon divergence but this is always how I imagined the story playing out. The only canon couples I left in this story are Rosalie/Emmett and Carlisle/Esme.
Relationships: Alice Cullen & Bella Swan, Alice Cullen/Bella Swan, Carlisle Cullen/Esme Cullen, Edward Cullen/Tanya, Emmett Cullen/Rosalie Hale
Series: Stephanie Meyers Reimagined [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684147
Comments: 47
Kudos: 161





	1. Chapter 1

It was a warm summer day in, the town of Biloxi Mississippi. One that was filled with sunshine; not a cloud in the sky. There was one person however, one girl that knew differently. She was sure that it was going to rain today. She had foreseen it. Even though she had been a teen, the child in her loved the rain. She loved jumping in the puddles, the sound it made when it hit the window in her bedroom, and she especially loved how it washed everything away; the rain washed the world clean. 

Mary Alice Brandon remembered how she would hand her mother, Lillian, her umbrella everyday that she had a vision of clouds. She smiled thinking about how her mother always believed in her visions. Her mother would look at her with the kindest bright blue eyes and always tell her, "You're always right Mary Alice." Then she would kiss her atop her head.

The girl remembered the day that she told her mother that she was going to have a baby sister. Mary Alice was making a flower crown for the woman laying with her feet elevated, her swollen stomach ready to burst with the life it carried. She laid the last flower on her mother's stomach. 

"And one for you, Little Sister."

Lillian was ecstatic that she was having another girl. She squealed with joy and held Mary Alice close. Both of them smiled and the daughter rested her head in the crook of her mother's neck. Her mother was the only one that understood her, the only one that didn’t call her a freak, a monster. 

Mary Alice would always warn people about the unfortunate consequences in her visions. Even though her visions were subjective, no one listened to her; no one believed her. So when that person was set upon by ill fortune, they would always blame Mary Alice. It was hard for the little Brandon girl, but it was in her nature to help other people. It was the good deed and gentle nature that Lillian had instilled into her daughter. Sure, Mary Alice had the dark eyes and hair of her father, but that was where the similarities ended. 

Edgar John Brandon was a man of certain quality. A jeweler and a pearl trader, the man never really believed in anything except for the almighty dollar. A tall, lanky man with a gaunt face and mustache above his upper lip, it was hard not to dislike the 'gentleman'. Mary Alice always remembered her father as one that held no sense of imagination, no sense of adventure. 

One awful day, Mary Alice had been set upon by a horrible vision. One that would change the course of her life forever. That night, as if in a nightmare, she had a vision of her mother being run off of the road by a haggard looking man with a large beard. He had murderous intent in his eyes and Mary Alice had awoke in a cold sweat. Cynthia was only a tiny child at the time, 5 or 6 to be exact, so when the teen woke, she had laid back down in bed.

Tossing and turning all night, Mary Alice couldn’t find it in her to fall back asleep. She couldn’t go to her mother, not when her father was in the bed. She knew she had to wait until morning to tell Lillian about her vision. The brunette opened her window and crawled out of it, onto the balcony and upward toward her roof. She sat there on the red tiles and watched as the sun begin to rise in the distance. 

She wiped her hand over her face. She always had these horrible visions; people getting hurt, sickness, death. There wasn’t a single one she could think of that was happy. That was except for the visions she would have of the rainy days. Mary Alice covered her eyes as the sun rose higher and higher. The day was about to begin.

Mary Alice heard the alarm clock in her parents room, signaling for the start of the day. The girl smiled and made her way back down to her room to get dressed. She took a hairbrush by on the vanity and brushed out her long, unruly brown hair. Then she went to the closet and got out a suitable outfit. Mary Alice was never one to wear dresses unless it was for a special occasion. She got out some long riding pants and a nice bright blue shirt. 

After she deemed it suitable on her she ran down the stairs to get things ready for breakfast. It wasn’t a hard task; toast and eggs on the stove, fresh squeezed orange juice from the trees in the yard in each of their favorite glasses. Four plates and four glasses littered the table in no time. Mary Alice heard footsteps coming down the stairs and instantly her heart beat sped up. She held her breath waiting for one of her other family members to show their face in the hallway.

When she saw the familiar long brown and fair skin of her mother, she breathed a sigh of relief. Lillian smiled at her daughter and went to hug her. Mary Alice breathed in her mothers scent and relaxed even further into her. 

"This all looks so wonderful darling." Lillian spoke kindly to the girl. 

Mary Alice smiled and urged her mother to eat. She sat opposite her and the two ate in silence before Cynthia came down. Each woman looked at the tiny child with love and devotion. Surely in this family, no harm would ever come to her. Cynthia climbed her way up into the chair next to her mother and Lillian kissed her cheek. Mary Alice looked at her mother and sister with tears in her eyes, remembering the vision from the night before. She had to make sure that she went with Lillian that day during her errands. She could be a big help, she promised internally.

"Mother, can Cynthia and I go with you during your errands today?" Mary Alice asked simply.

Just then, the three women jumped at the sound of Edgar's booming voice.

"Certainly not, Mary Alice. There are studies you need to catch up on today." He looked at the girl defiantly and shook his head. He was all dressed in his three piece suit, freshly shaven (all but his signature mustache) and looking awfully grumpy. Lillian looked from her husband to her daughter. Mary Alice had wide, pleading eyes as she silently begged her mother to let her go. The mother looked once more to Edgar and saw that the man was having trouble tying his necktie. She took this moment to go and help the man. He was honestly hopeless with the garment, always had been. 

Lillian looked up at him with those large, bright blue, doe eyes and asked him very politely. 

"Now Edgar, darling, Mary Alice can go with me and we'd get the errands done in half the time. Cynthia can go to work with you and help out at the store. You know how your customers love our little girl."

The man seemed to think it over for a moment before an imaginary lightbulb went off in his mind. 

"Alright dear, you and Mary Alice can go and get the chores done; the two of you can even go down by the bakery and pick up something for desert on the way back."

He smiled but Mary Alice saw that the grin never reached his eyes. Edgar ate his breakfast in silence while reading the paper, and then it was time for Cynthia to go and get ready for the day with her father. The tiny girl ran upstairs with Mary Alice and the latter picked out a nice baby pink dress for her to wear. She helped her sister get dressed and then she put a white bow clip in her hair. They looked in the large mirror over by the closet to see the entire ensemble and when Cynthia smiled and turned to hug her sister around the legs, they deemed the outfit worthy of today's events. 

Mary Alice for her part, got a long strand of ribbon and tied her long brown hair back and off of her neck. It would surely be cooler for her this way. She looked to the bedroom doorway and saw that her sister had forgotten her white shoes. She picked them up and raced down the stairs. 

Just before Edgar and Cynthia were out the door, Mary Alice called out. "Cynthia, don’t forget your shoes." She chuckled as she spoke. The little sister ran over to her and grabbed them before yelling her thanks and went out the door with their father. 

A few moments pass before Lillian and Mary Alice hear Edgar's car start and drive away toward the jewelry store. Both women breathed a sigh of relief and laughed when they regained their composure. 

"Is that what you're wearing out, Mary Alice?" Lillian asked her daughter. The girl had always been adventurous but always with a stylish side. Mary Alice nodded and explained that she didn’t want to get her dresses dirty. There was another reason for her wardrobe but for the moment she would be silent about her vision. Lillian stood a few inches taller than the 18 year old, so she looked down and put a hand on her fair cheek.

"Alright you silly girl. Let's go."

Mary Alice grabbed her mother's umbrella and handed it to her, before exiting the house. Lillian closed the door with a firm click and then the two were off to explore their city.


	2. Mother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of the resource material I used for this chapter came from the short film, The Mary Alice Brandon File. It was part of a series know as The Storyteller Saga. There are seven shorts in total but this one was the most emotional for me. If you guys haven't seen it or know what the heck I'm talking about, head over to the Twilight Wiki.

The thing about Mary Alice's visions was that, if a person had changed their mind about something imperative regarding the vision, it wouldn’t come to pass. As Mary Alice rode with her mother that day, all signs of her vision from the night before had vanished. There was no man with the large beard, no car accident, and certainly no death. She breathed a sigh of relief as the two women walked into the bakery that afternoon. 

She smiled as she took a bite of the fluffy cake in front of her. A puff of powdered sugar flew into the air and landed on her shirt. The teal blue of the shirt was now covered in a pasty white. Lillian chuckled at her daughter trying to wipe the stuff off, but it was to no avail. White smears replaced the soft spots. Mary Alice saw her mother smile and it was all she could do to contain her own joy at seeing her mother still alive. 

Lillian ate at her raspberry tart and loved every bite of it. It wasn’t until she looked at her tiny pocket-watch that she realized how late it was. She gasped and ate the last bite of her tart before she got up from her seat and gesture for her daughter to do the same. 

"I'm sorry, darling. We need to get home and get dinner started before your father comes home."

Mary Alice looked somberly at the table beneath her and took the last bite of cake before getting up and following her mother to the car. A few moments into the drive, Lillian asked her. "So Mary Alice, why did you feel the need to come with me today?" The girl stayed silent for a long time. Her mother asked again. "Was it something you saw?" Lillian had a feeling it was because of a vision that her daughter had in the night. The between nightmares and visions was that nightmares didn’t feel real. Not even her most vivid ones felt real, but in her visions, she could feel everything about them. Like for instance, the vision with her mother getting killed, Mary Alice could feel her mother's fear, her mother's pain as her broken body laid there waiting to die. 

"I saw you die, mom." She heard Lillian's gasp as she continued.

"I watched as a man with a large, fluffy beard run you off of the road in a Model T. You swerved into a steep ditch and your injuries were too severe." Tears began to fall down her face as she told the story. She was sure her mother wouldn’t believe her now. No one likes to hear what happens before it does. That’s what Lillian always told her. Most people were small minded and never wanted to hear about what the future had in store for them. There were a lot of other things that people were afraid of but at the moment, in the here and now, everyone was afraid of Mary Alice. 

She put her hands down on her knees and gripped her pant legs trying to contain any emotion. She knew that she was going to lose even her mother now, there was nothing to stop the woman next to her from calling the authorities or the people at the Pearl River County asylum. Surely now Lillian would think that her daughter was crazy. Mary Alice leaned her head down as she gripped her pant legs, but when she felt her mother's hand on her shoulder, she looked up in amazement. 

"You've never been wrong, Mary Alice; not once. I've always believed in your power. It would be foolish of me to go back on it now." Lillian kept driving the buggy, her eyes stuck firmly on the road, but even then Mary Alice believed her mothers' words to be true. 

The feeling of gratitude and love for her mother didn’t last long however, for when they got to a spot in the road flanked by trees on each side, they were jostled by something crashing into them. Both women screamed at the movement and when Mary Alice looked behind the car, she screamed again. 

"Oh my God, it's him!" She exclaimed as he drove the Model T into the back of their buggy once more. Mary Alice's hair came untied from the ribbon in the conflict. She tried to grab for it but the wind took it faster than she could've predicted. 

"Mother, let me drive!" Mary Alice begged Lillian. The older woman wasn’t even sure if her daughter could drive let alone speed up in this Hillman Tourer. But she had to believe in her child none the less. She tried to move over to the passenger side while Mary Alice climbed over her and into the driver seat. 

The girl stepped on the gas pedal as hard as she could, being very careful not to veer off the road. The hair in her eyes was starting to become a problem without the ribbon. She pushed it out of the way with one hand and kept her free hand on the steering wheel. As they drove they tried to stay one step ahead of the grizzly man. It was a chore however with the Model T always close behind. Another bump from the car and the two were jostled from their seats. 

They were coming up to a sharp turn. It was the same turn that her mother had crashed on. This was it. This was the part in her vision that she was trying to prevent. As the man was pulling up beside their car, he looked to the pair and his eyes widened.

"You're not supposed to be here, girl." He yelled at them.

"Neither are you!" Mary Alice yelled right back. "You're not taking her!" She continued as she wound up the car to drive him off of the road and into the trees. Mary Alice still didn’t know exathe women drove, but Mary Alice had to try and save her mother; she just had to. She crashed into the vehicle beside her and it jostled the man slightly. 

Another few hits and he would be sailing into the tree line. 

Mary Alice turned once again and crashed into the car. The man was getting frustrated now. He wiped his brow underneath his hat, the sweat more and more apparent on his face. The man could see that he was veering away from the path and into the ditch beside him. His eyes widened as one more hit from the other car would surly send him to his demise. 

The brat beside him was winding up for another bump, he tried to speed up to avoid such a thing but when he looked at the speedometer, he yelled in frustration. The car was running out of steam and therefore slowing down. So when Mary Alice ran into the side of the Model T that final time, the vehicle was sent flying into the brush. Once they were fully out of sight, Mary Alice slowed the car down to a stop. She got up out of the seat and all but fell to the ground. Her legs felt like wet noodles and it took everything in her not to fall down. 

"Mary Alice!" She heard Lillian yell. She turned around to see the woman running up to her. When she tried to move, her feet slipped in the dirt underneath her. As Mary Alice was falling to the ground, her mother stalled her by putting her arms around her waist. "Are you alright, my darling?" She frantically asked as she smoothed her daughter's hair away from her face. Lillian was also looking for any injuries on the girl as she patted her down, but there was nothing to signify that Mary Alice had been hurt.

"I'm fine mother. Really I'm alright, are you ok?" Mary Alice asked her also frantically looking for any injuries on her mother. 

"I'm right as rain, baby girl." Lillian said releasing a breath she had been holding since the whole ordeal began. The tears in both women's eyes were falling down in droves now. The mother and daughter pair hugged each other tightly thankful that fate had something else instore for them today. 

For a few more moments the two stood there hugging one another. Then Lillian looked at her watch again and told her daughter it was time to go home. 

"Where did you learn to drive anyway, Missy?" Her mother asked with a laugh.

"I honestly couldn’t tell you." 

Lillian got back into the driver seat and the two were off on their way home. 

When they arrived back at the large house, Mary Alice took a deep breath and entered the threshold. She looked in the sitting room and saw her father reading the newspaper with his pipe in his mouth. Cynthia sat right in front of him playing with her dolls. Mary Alice could smell the tobacco and scrunched her nose. Edgar looked up from the print in front of him and frowned. Surely the man he had hired to kill his wife hadn't failed. It was impossible. He paid that vagrant a lot of money to dispose of Lillian. Surely the added bonus of his freak of a daughter wouldn’t put a wrench in his plans. 

When Lillian looked at him, he instantly regained his composure and went to kiss his wife on the cheek. The parcels that she carried looked heavy so Edgar played the part of loving husband and took them from her, placing them on the dining room table. He saw the large parcel from the butcher shop among the group and put that one in the kitchen. No doubt it was a roast for tonight's dinner. Edgar was shaking internally. He had this all figured out, he hired the man to kill his wife so that he could be with his new flame Anna-Marie. Now it looked like he had to come up with a new plan. 

Months pass with no sign of any danger coming for Lillian. Mary Alice tried gazing into her mother's future but everything she saw was happy and light. It had been about six months to the day since Lillian's almost car accident when the small seer noticed something 'off' about her father. Edgar had been spending more and more time at the store, not closing until well after dark. What had been going on, she wondered. 

Mary Alice wanted to confront the man about it many times, even going to her mother for advice on the subject. Lillian however told her that he was making money for the family and therefore had to work late. Her mother often used this excuse for Edgar but in truth, she also had no idea why he was staying out so late. 

March had finally came around and spring was quite the season in Biloxi. People had gone to the beach for sun and the ocean. It was a beautiful sight. The Brandon's also made their way there and while laying out in the heat, Mary Alice was overcome by a vision. She gasped as her vision became clouded with water. Salt burned her irises as she gasped for air. Mary Alice didn’t know whose future she was seeing but there was one thing she could see. As she looked to the surface, she saw the evil grin of her father, Edgar John Brandon staring down at her. 

She came out of the vision moments later, holding her throat and gasping for air. Once Mary Alice regained her composure, she looked to the water and saw her mother playing with Cynthia in the shallows. The two were laughing and splashing each other gleefully. Another moment passed by and another vision wracked her body. Edgar was with another woman, a blonde. He was kissing her in a white gown with a long pearl necklace. A rage came upon her then. She grabbed her sandals and walked off of the beach to confront the man about her visions.

He had never believed her before about them, but she would make him listen. She would make him believe. As she walked with purpose, Mary Alice found her way to her father's jewelry store. She burst through the front door and found Edgar kissing the neck of the same woman in her vision. The two lover's separated at the sound of the intrusion and Anna-Marie screamed at the girl with the accusing eyes. Mary Alice looked at the pair in horror. The blonde in front of her didn’t look that much older than Mary Alice herself. Within moments the quiet scene was anything but. 

Mary Alice was yelling at her father. How could he do this to Lillian? She was his wife, the mother of his children, and yet he could betray her like this, with this floosy? Edgar was yelling at Mary Alice. Telling her to get out of the building. Telling her that she is nothing to him but a freak, that she is ruining the reputation of the family. Apparently Edgar worked hard for the status he had achieved in his life. Every person in town thought his entire family were freaks. He was lucky he sold anything in this place!

Mary Alice stormed out, walking back toward the beach for her mother, but unbeknownst to her, Edgar was right behind her. He couldn’t risk his daughter telling Lillian about the affair. She would leave him and take Cynthia with her. So, he saw a police officer on ground patrol and caught his attention. Edgar grasped the man by the arm and told him quietly. 

"Officer, I need you to detain my daughter. She's absolutely lost her mind." The officer looked down the way at the girl walking briskly toward the beach. There was a crowd walking by eagerly talking about where they would go during the summer. Edgar had to lean in toward the officer's ear to speak. 

"She thinks I'm going to kill her mother."

Mary Alice turned back around to see her father talking to the police man and made a run for it. The lawman was faster however and caught her almost instantly. He took her by the wrists as she screamed for help. 

"Help! Murderer! Adulterer!" She screamed toward the crowd for anyone to help her. Everyone that passed by however, kept their head down and walked on by. Mary Alice kept screaming and tried to get free of the officer. She tried wrenching her hands free but the hold was too strong. The policeman walked her over to the car that he drove in and put her in handcuffs, all the while Mary Alice was screaming at the top of her lungs for her mother. 

It wasn’t until the officer had her in the car that Lillian came running with the little Cynthia in her arms. She tried asking the officer what her daughter had done to be arrested, but the man in question drew her attention to Edgar. 

"The gentleman filed a complaint ma'am. We're just taking her in so she doesn’t hurt anyone." He said as he got into the car and drove off. Mary Alice looked behind her in the rearview window and screamed for Lillian to help her. The woman began to run after the car, but as it picked up speed she twisted her ankle and fell to the ground in pain. Cynthia ran to her and asked her if she was ok. Lillian did nothing but cry as she held her youngest daughter tightly in her arms, fearing that she would never see Mary Alice again.

When Mary Alice arrived at the station, other officers and prisoners alike were staring at her. She wanted to yell at them to leave her alone. There was nothing wrong with her; nothing at all. The brunette sat there in handcuffs waiting to be released, but as time went on, she could feel the metal dig into her skin. It was turning it raw.

"We have another quack for the doctor." The arresting officer told the secretary. The woman at the desk was rather heavy with red hair and half moon glasses. Her cheeks were puffed out and rosy as she dialed a number on a telephone. 

"Yes, hello, I need to speak to Dr. Brown, please. This is Delores, I must speak with him immediately." 

It wasn’t long before an ambulance pulled up in front of the jail. A doctor, his nurse, and a couple of attendees, walked into the facility. The doctor came in first followed by his associate's. He was rather old, looked to be about 60 years old with white hair and age spots on his face. Each person in the group looked over at Mary Alice. The doctor held a file in his hands and walked over to her. He looked at a photograph inside and saw the girl sitting in front of him. 

Dr. Brown looked to an officer and asked. "Can you please let her out of those cuffs. She is now in our care." The officer looked skeptical at the doctor, but when the man produced the file and her father's signature on a release form, he nodded and produced the key that would release the handcuffs. 

Mary Alice rubbed at her wrists waiting for something else to happen. When nothing did, she tried to make a break for it, but a strong pair of arms took her by the waist and carried her to the van outside. Mary Alice's voice was still raw from the screaming she had done hours ago, but she still found the strength for more as the brute carried her to the van. The other attendee that accompanied the crew opened the backdoors of the van. Mary Alice was placed in the back and tied down to the seat. Leather straps were bound to her ankles and wrists, holding her in place. Dr. Brown filed in after her and sat on the opposite side. He opened the file once more and looked at all of the details on this girl. 

Edgar had provided a large sum to the asylum to get his daughter admitted and by God Dr. Brown would use that money to his advantage. 

"Mary Alice Brandon." He said her name and it made her skin crawl.


	3. Enjoy your stay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we get a little look see at Alice's creator.

After what felt like forever, they had finally arrived at the asylum. Mary Alice was instantly filled with dread and fear. She had a feeling that she would never leave this place. Not alive anyway. Some other orderlies ran out with a gurney and when the nurse and attendee opened the back doors of the van, the teen instantly fell onto the floor deadweight. The doctor shook his head and motioned for the brutes to get her off of the floor and onto the rolling gurney. 

Multiple pairs of eyes watched their every move. One particular red pair of eyes saw the girl they were putting on the rolling slab. There was something special about her. He could smell it in her blood. He would wait however; wait until dark to make his move. As the sun shined upon his face, his skin began to shine like a thousand tiny diamonds. He tilted the large hat that was upon his head to hide the abnormality. His long sleeves already covered the skin of his arms. Anyone who had seen the dark skin of this man shine was already deemed insane so he didn’t pay them any mind and went about his work for the day.

As the day went by, Mary Alice regained consciousness, and as she was waking up she could feel the restraints on her wrists and ankles. She began to scream and kick and thrash around on the bed trying to get free. At the sound of commotion, a multitude of attendees and nurses rushed to her bedside and held her down, tightening the straps. It cut off the circulation to her hands and feet. She could already feel them falling asleep as she cried. Her long hair thrashed about her face covering her eyes from the doctors and nurses. That’s when Dr. Brown walked in the room with his assistant. 

"Mary Alice Brandon." He said her name again and she wanted nothing more than to spit in his face, but she realized she didn’t have the strength. So she laid there on the bed and said.

"I shouldn’t be here." Mary Alice spoke for the first time in her tired voice. "My father just wanted to get rid of me." She shivered as she felt the cold hands of the nurse tightening her binds. 

"You're name is Mary Alice Brandon?" Dr. Brown asked again. The girl wanted to growl at her captor. Did he really think she was that stupid? She grumbled.

"Yes," Mary Alice paused. "But I'm not sick." She always felt the need to defend her gift of visions. She wasn’t sick, wasn’t cursed, or anything of the sort. She was just a girl, trying to live her life in a time when people were small minded. 

Mary Alice watched as the nurse went over to the side of her bed. There on the floor was a cart with some kind of machine. One that looked ominous and full of warning. The doctor sneered at her as he walked closer to the bed. 

"Well it says here, that you believe you have visions; visions of the future." He said this mockingly as he sat on a stool by the window. Mary Alice could see the light coming in from outside. Oh how she wished she could see her mother and sister one more time. She felt a prick in the crook of her arm, and when she looked down her eyes widened to see a needle protruding from the vein. She didn’t know what was in the syringe, but she had a feeling that it wasn’t anything good. 

Then after a moment, Mary Alice began to feel her body grow heavy. Her eyelids drooped and her shoulders sagged as the liquid began to take effect. "We're just going to give you a mild sedative while we do our treatments, Mary Alice." The girl heard that click of a switch and the whirring sound of the machine next to her. She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, she was truly at the mercy of these people. 

When the nurse faced her again, she held a headband looking apparatus with a wet sponge on both sides. The older woman stuck them to the sides of her head and placed a rubber grip into her mouth. Mary Alice wanted to keep her mouth shut. She wanted nothing more than to pry her lips shut as they tried to put that disgusting thing in her mouth, but the sedative was doing it's job well and it did take much effort for the nurse to pry open her mouth and stick the grip between her teeth. 

The older woman looked to the doctor and when he nodded, she turned back to Mary Alice. 

"There is something wrong with you, but we are going to fix it." She smiled with no emotion in her eyes. Everything on that woman's face was empty. Mary Alice didn’t like it one bit. She heard the doctor writing down notes in her file and when the nurse was ready with the preparations, she looked to him and he nodded once more. She turned up a dial on the machine and with another click of a switch, Mary Alice felt nothing but a sharp pain in her temples.

She watched as every vision she had ever had disappear from her mind. Mary Alice went into her memories to try and grasp onto one. Just one that she could hold on to. After what seemed like forever, the treatment was done. Mary Alice still jittered once it was over as she was brought to her room. The large attendee walked with her to the room she would be sharing with another girl. 

The sleeping roommate looked as if to be having a nightmare. She was tossing and turning and crying in her sleep. Mary Alice looked to the other girl and saw that her head had been shaven. She then looked at the attendee and he said. 

"That's tomorrows problem." The he pushed her inside the room and closed the door behind him. 

Mary Alice cried when they cut her hair, but she cried without sound. She didn’t want to give anyone the satisfaction of hearing her weep. That she did in the privacy of her own room. Over the next few months, the shock treatment continued. Mary Alice had found a piece of scrap paper from the activities they had for some of the patients there and also a crayon. She made it look like she was coloring on the white sheet, when in reality, she wrote down what ever memory she could hold on to.

'My name is Mary Alice Brandon. I was born in Biloxi, Mississippi. I have a younger sister named Cynthia. My mother's name is Lillian.'

Every day she would look at that paper and try to remember who she was. Mary Alice tried to memorize every single line but with each treatment, it grew more difficult. She was losing her short term memory. 

One day, she had a vision of a rainy day. Mary Alice loved the rain. She bawled up the note and took it with her to her treatment so that she could hold onto it without anyone noticing. Mary Alice readied herself for the familiar feelings of the sedative and wet sponges along her temples and she gripped that paper harder in her hand. 

"It's gonna rain." Mary Alice spoke in the room. Her voice was raspy and tired from crying the night before. The doctor looked out the window and replied. "Eh, it’s a beautiful day out there." The nurse agreed. "Don’t worry, it'll still be sunny for your walk after the treatment."

"I love the rain; how it sounds in the window, jumping in puddles, the way it washes everything clean. It make's the world new." She vowed to herself that she wouldn’t let go of that paper. That she would always remember the face of her mother. She would always remember the color of her bright blue eyes and the sound of her laugh and the feeling of her hugs; but as the nurse flipped that switch, Mary Alice could no longer control the muscles in her body. Her hand instinctively released the crumpled up piece of paper and it fell to the floor. 

Once the treatment was done Mary Alice opened her eyes and looked up at the staff. There had been no recognition in her gaze. Only wonder at who and where she was. The nurse then released the binds on her wrists and the girl sat up in the hospital bed. She looked around the room and smiled at each of them. 

"Hello!" The girl said with a bright grin. 

Aggressive rain drops could be heard pounding against the window. The doctor looked and was shocked that it was now storming outside.

"It's pouring out there." He paused. "How are you feeling Ms. Brandon?"

Mary Alice looked at the nurse with zero recognition at the sound of her own name.

"That's you!" The older woman said. "Mary Alice Brandon."

The girl just smiled then. "Alice. I like that name."

________________________________________________________

For a few weeks since the time she arrived at the asylum, there were absolutely no visions clouding her mind. No visions, no dreams, just a certain comfortable darkness that met her every time she closed her eyes to go to sleep. When she woke every day and got her treatment, she went for a walk outside on the grounds. That’s where Alice met Kumboh. He was a large man with dark skin-most of his face was covered by a large hat, but she could make out his kind smile- and on overcast days, when the sun was hidden by clouds, she noticed that he had the most unusual colored eyes she had ever seen. They were red. Kumboh was very nice to Alice, he talked to her nicely about his day and she would tell him about hers. He was significantly older than Alice, and he kind of held a father position with her. 

"If only I could remember my own father." She said to him one day while sitting on a bench with him. 

"Who knows, little one." Kumboh spoke in his heavy African accent. "Maybe one day it will come back to you."

When Alice's visions came back to her it was a bit of a shock. Her eyes went foggy and something unfolded in front of her. Kumboh came to her with a picture he drew for her. Alice looked at it with a smile and asked what it was. He drew her a picture of his village and what it looked like when he was a young boy. There were so many colors in that one portrait, that Alice gasped at its beauty. Alice came out of the vision and went back to sleep. 

It was the next night when he visited her that the two found out that Alice had retained her ability. Kumboh wanted to train her on it and her skills were growing rapidly.

One night however, there had been a particularly disturbing vision. One that she couldn’t shake herself from. Two people, a man and a woman, were chasing her at an inhuman speed. They were laughing evilly in her ear and told her to run faster. No matter how fast she ran she would always end up dead. She could feel herself being held by a strong pair of arms, so strong that she couldn’t even dig her nails in the skin of her assailant. Alice felt the sharp prick in her neck of what felt like teeth. She screamed at the pain in her body and that’s when she is released from the vision.

It took a hold of her entire being. The paranoia she felt was almost debilitating. Her heartbeat grew faster with each passing moment as she constantly looked over her shoulder. Alice got the attention of another doctor and begged for the shock therapy that night. The small brunette sighed in relief as she felt the sponges on her head and the sedative in her skin. She knew what was going to come next but even with her experience, Alice couldn’t hold back her scream. It resonated throughout the entire grounds. 

Kumboh looked up from his secluded spot by the large oak tree. A body covered in white tarp was at his feet and he growled as he plunged the shovel in the ground. He dug a grave for his latest victim. The victim of a vampire. The crowned prince of his village, Kumboh survived off of the delusional patients of the asylum. No one noticed if a few bodies went missing every couple of months. These people had been wards of the state, and therefore over looked in every sense of the word. 

With his enhanced speed, he raced up to the nurses station where the night matron was pouring a certain liquor into her coffee cup. The woman jumped when she saw him. 

Kumboh growled and said. "Who put her in the machine?" His African accent coming out with his rage. 

"Who?" The night matron asked, fearful of the large man in front of her. 

"Alice." He asked. His large red eyes staring down the scared woman. 

"No body ordered Alice for electroshock therapy, she asked for it herself." Kumboh was shocked at the nurses accusation. Why would Alice willingly go through this sort of treatment again? She had been doing so well before. With his training and nightly visits, Alice had been trained to control her visions. What was happening with the girl?

In his confused state, the night nurse gained some courage.

"Now you see here, Boy, you better watch that tone of voice." 

Kumboh took a deep breath and regained control of his emotions. His eyes took in the matron and turned crystal as they gazed into her very soul. 

"Weren't you havin' a drink?" He spoke in his soft southern accent. 

The woman's expression went completely flat. Devoid of any emotion as the hypnosis took over. She became compelled to finish pouring her whiskey into her coffee cup and have that drink she so wanted. "Yes." She said, her voice blank. "Yes. A drink."

Once the man realized that his gift had taken affect, he raced up to Alice's room before anyone saw him. He was there in a matter of moments and as he entered the room he knocked on the open door frame. 

"Kumboh. Come in!" Alice stated with a smile. She had been quiet enough not to wake anyone else. He walked into the room and removed his hat. Seeing her state in the bed Kumboh said. "Alice, Alice, you've gone down the rabbit-hole."

Alice did nothing but smile at the man as she sat up against the metal bed frame. 

"What have you brought for me today?" She asked eager to test her abilities again. 

"You're supposed to tell me that." He rebutted. Kumboh knew that Alice was hiding something from him. This was the only way to get it out of her. 

Alice's pretty smile became a frown. "The time is somewhat pressing." She said continuing to adjust herself. 

"They told me that you asked for the machine." He said looking at her with those sad red eyes. In truth, Alice didn’t want to tell her friend, her father figure about the vision she had earlier that day. She shivered just recalling it in her own mind. 

"I thought, maybe that forgetting is a mercy. But I still remember." 

Kumboh came up closer to the side of the bed in concern. He put a hand on the girls' shoulder and asked. "What were you trying to forget."

Alice knew she couldn’t hide the truth from the man any longer. She told him about the vision; about the two people coming for her. They had red eyes like him, but not his kind nature, not his enduring smile. She didn’t know when they were coming but she knew it would be soon. Kumboh became scared for the girl he took into his care. He told her how he should've taken her away from her weeks ago. When he reached for her she screamed. Another vision of her death clouded her. Kumboh paced across the wooden floor and offered another solution. He would cover her scent in the river; another vision took her breath away as she was being drowned. 

Alice vaguely remembered that feeling but she couldn’t for the life of her remember from where. 

He said he could lead them away from her but the girl said with great defeat that there was two of them and only one of him. Alice was on the verge of tears now. Kumboh leaned in and quietly spoke.

"Alice, what if?" He made his decision then. One that would change their lives forever. It was a chance. A slim chance, but still a chance. There was no way that Alice would be able to change his mind. She saw his future and saw nothing but death if he took this path, but there was no stopping her mentor, her friend. 

Kumboh held out his hand for Alice and she took it. 

"A sprig of Lavender in our left pocket." The small girl smiled as she remembered what he had brought her. Purple had always been such a lovely color for Alice. 

The older man picked her up in his arms bridal style and used his enhanced speed to go through the asylum unseen. Once at the doorway to the facility, Kumboh looked deep into Alice's eyes and they turned to crystal. He hypnotized her so she wouldn’t feel the pain of his bite, but once the venom took over there was nothing he could do for the girl. 

For days Alice, writhed in pain. For days, Kumboh trained himself in the ways of combat once again. He feared his skill were a little rusty. Three days total was all it took for Alice's transformation to be complete. They stayed in a small cottage not far from the asylum but far enough away that no one would find them. Alice had awoken with wide red eyes. She looked all around her and saw each speck of dust, each bug, each leaf on every single tree, but when she saw Kumboh, her vampiric instincts took over. Alice hissed and lunged at the man she did not remember.

Kumboh dodged and sidestepped each of Alice's blows. This lasted until the sun began to set over the horizon and he finally had enough. He got her in a choke hold and held it there across her neck.

"Calm down, Alice. It's me, Kumboh, your friend." As the immediate threat passed, Alice regained a sense of recollection. She immediately apologized for attacking him in such a way and hugged him across the middle. With Alice now being a newborn vampire, she had strength that surpassed her teacher's. He grunted in pain for a slight second before the young girl released her hold. Once again she apologized.

Teacher and student, child and maker stood side by side, trying to understand the gravity of the situation. Alice watched as her skin glowed with a thousand shiny diamonds. She had seen something like this before, but where. Alice closed her eyes and she saw a vision of a man with a thin mustache and an ugly grimace on his face. 

When she said nothing for a long while, Kumboh put a hand on the girls' shoulder. 

"Are you alright Alice?" She nodded in reply.

"So your skin does this all the time?" Alice asked excitedly.

"Only when the sun is out." The man in front of her smiled at her enthusiasm. No vampire understood why their skin glowed like that. It was just the way things were. 

"Why are your eyes red?" She asked another question. This one was harder to answer. Kumboh didn’t want to tell her that the color of their eyes depended on the type of blood they drank. He had heard of vampires that survived off of animal blood, but they were few and far between. Just before he found the courage to answer, Alice took a deep breath through her nose. Her mouth began to water at the smell of the blood in the distance and without warning, ran to the source. 

"Alice, wait!" After a few moments of chasing after the newborn, Kumboh realized he was never going to catch her. "Shit!" He yelled in frustration. He also smelled the blood of humans in the distance and only hoped that they were far enough away from Biloxi.

__________________________________________________________ 

As it grew dark, Alice watched the lanterns come on in the street. She saw no one outside wandering the streets but she knew that the tantalizing scent of blood was nearby. She came upon a large two story house with a green roof, a porch and a balcony on the second floor. Closing her eyes, she saw another….vision….memory? A girl who had long beautiful hair sat on that rooftop many a night thinking about what the future would hold for her. She sat there thinking about the constant visions she would have and how she would hide them from her father. 

A click of a hammer on a revolver took Alice out of her reverie. She shook herself out of the vision and looked down the barrel of the gun. The man with the thin mustache and the ugly grimace on his face was attached to that gun. 

"Hello, Mary Alice." That name; was it hers? She couldn’t remember, but as each syllable spewed out of the man's mouth, she remembered. Alice remembered everything about this man. How he was her father, about how he never had a single kind word to say to her, about how cruel he was to her. He was a monster of a father that only cared about status and wealth. As the memories poured into her, Alice could feel her brain swelling to the point of pain. She had no idea that this pain had existed in the world. She screamed as each vision reentered her mind. 

Lillian had heard the scream and ran down the stairs in her nightgown. She looked out the window of the front room and saw her own daughter Mary Alice in the road, hunched over in pain. For months she had written to the girl. She wrote her about how she was going to do everything in her power to get her out of that awful asylum. Lillian knew that little Mary Alice didn’t belong there; she just knew it. 

The woman all but tore the door off of it's hinges as she threw it open. 

"Mary Alice!" Lillian yelled as she ran over to the hunched figure. 

More screams, and more memories invaded her mind. All of them were of the woman next to her. Lillian Brandon, her mother. The one with bright blue eyes and soft brunette hair. She remembered the scent of it as she put the flowers in. Alice remembered all of the times the woman believed in her, in her visions, in her ability as a human being. She never once doubted Alice. She also remembered the day she had spent with her mother the day of her supposed murder. 

Alice remembered driving the car as fast as she could to get the bearded man away from them.

"Mother." She grimaced through the pain in her head.

Lillian began to cry for her daughter. What had they done to her there? What kind of horrors had her special girl been through? She could scarcely imagine. She rubbed the girls back as Alice dry heaved from everything going on around her. Alice was so overwhelmed with everything. The memories, the visions, the fact that her mother was still alive and the fact that her father was standing right in front of her with a gun pointed at her face. 

Once she had regained herself, Alice stood up right and looked at the man in front of her. Her red eyes black with rage and hunger. She held herself from shooting forward and taking her meal so that Edgar could answer for what he had done to her.

"Hello father." Edgar gasped as his daughter remembered who he was; remembered who Lillian was. His hand began to shake in fear as the girl stepped closer to him. There was something in Mary Alice's voice that was not the same as before. She was stronger now. There was a grit in her voice that said everything she needed to. 

"I-I did it for your own good Mary Alice." Edgar stammered trying to make sense of the entire situation. "The visions needed to stop." He tried to justify everything. 

Alice growled and stepped toward him again. She roared at the man. "Liar! You sent me to that godforsaken place for your own selfish wants and needs." She remembered the vision she had on the beach that day. The one of her father succeeding in the murder of her mother and marrying that awful Anna-Marie woman. She was ever so glad that didn’t come to pass. Alice felt her mother's arms around her as she lunged at him. Her sharp teeth were barred, but in all of the confusion, no one saw anything. Even the black of her eyes were mistaken for her former brown ones. 

"What happened to your little floosy, dad?! Did she leave you when she found out you didn’t have the stones to kill my mother?!" Alice yelled once more at her father. Everything was coming to light. Every dirty little secret, every lie, Alice knew she was going to reveal it all now. Nothing would be spared. 

Lillian thought about this for a moment. Could she really believe her daughter now? Did Edgar really carry on with another woman, would he really kill her to be with someone else? She looked to Mary Alice and thought about every event since that day. Since the car chase, Lillian had been looking over her shoulder. She didn’t know who was out to get her. She didn’t have any enemies. The older woman always made sure to have little Cynthia with her where ever she went. Mary Alice had never been wrong before, and she saw how that blonde Anna-Marie was always hanging around her husband during social events. They paid each other way too much attention. It was all connected. 

"You bastard!" She yelled at her husband. 

Edgar was losing control of the situation. He thought he had this handled; Mary Alice would stay at the asylum and he would finally find a way to kill Lillian. Anna-Marie made it apparent that she wouldn’t be with him until the deed was done. He had lost her. The blonde brought a ton of money into the store and he exploited that fact countless times. 

"Goddamn it!" He exclaimed. "This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. I had this all figured out, but you had to go and ruin it! Just like everything else! You little freak, you never did learn to respect you elders." Edgar pointed his gun at Alice once more and pulled the trigger. The girl closed her eyes and waited for the bullet to penetrate her skin, but a few moments passed by and nothing happened. No bullet, no pain; but there was a heaviness on her that she couldn’t discern. As she opened her eyes again she saw Lillian covering her body with her own. 

The older woman was slouched down on Alice's shoulders and when she breathed in, she felt the pain of the bullet inside of her. It penetrated her through the back and out through her chest. The wound was right over her heart. Lillian and Alice both gasped at the sight and Alice screamed in horror as her mother began to fall to the ground. 

"No! No! Mom! Please! Please don't die! I just found you again. I can't lose you now." Alice pleaded with the woman as she bled out from the wound in her chest. Lillian gasped for breath reaching for her daughter. They each sank down onto the ground. Alice held the bleeding woman on her lap as Lillian cried. 

"Mary Alice. My little girl, my angel. I’m so sorry for everything you went through in that awful place." She coughed as blood began to fill her throat. It was getting clogged and Lillian did the best she could to release any she had there. "I wanted to spare you that kind of pain." She reached up to touch the cheek of her daughter. Alice's skin was so cold, but it was also so soft. "I'm sorry my darling. I love you so much. No matter what happens, I will always be your mother and I will always love you." Alice heard the heart beat of her mother begin to slow to a stop. 

When it finally stalled, she had no idea what to do. She cried, but it hurt to do so. Alice reached up to her face expecting to feel the wetness along her fingertips by they were dry. 

The teen looked up to see the shocked face of her father staring down at her with the body of Lillian in her arms. A rage came upon her then. An anger that she had never felt before in her entire life. She roared in her pain and raced up to her father grasping him along the neck. Alice held the man up against the door of his house while he tried to pry her hand away. Edgar could feel his windpipe being crushed by the girl in front of him. Where had she gained all of this strength? This wasn’t human, this wasn’t natural. 

"You took everything from me!" Alice yelled in his face, her breath hot against him. 

He laughed through the pain in his neck. "Now we're even."

In her anger, Alice surged forward and bit into Edgar's neck. His muscles tensed at the sensation and then he screamed out in pain. The tiny vampire could feel her hunger getting sated with each pull of blood from the bastard in her grasp. She felt the pulse in him slow to a stop and even then she kept gulping every last drop of blood from the body. Alice dropped him with a heavy thunk and began to walk away, that's when she looked at her mother's body one last time. 

She sunk down to her knees and pulled Lillian onto her lap. Alice sobbed without the sweet release of tears flowing down her cheeks. "This is all my fault." She sniffled. 

A deep solemn voice echoed in her ear. "Nothing is your fault, Alice." Kumboh spoke with nothing but compassion and sorrow for the girl. Alice did everything right in her life. The only thing that mattered her was the choice she made next. Kumboh took the corpse of her father and she took Lillian to a secluded area where they can find rest properly. Both humans were cremated before their ashes were left to blow away with the morning air. 

Alice cried again for her little sister. Cynthia, in her young age was now an orphan. Kumboh put a heavy hand on Alice's shoulder. "Don’t worry about your sister. She will be fine." He recalled how, in all the chaos, he woke the tiny up to hypnotize her and give her a whole new life. The large man felt sorry for the girl who in the morning would have no recollection of her old one. Alice tried looking into her sisters future but with all of the emotions plaguing her now, it was hard to concentrate. 

And as if the day couldn’t get any worse, Alice heard a heavy foot fall on the ground a few feet a head of their position. She gasped as she saw the faces of the people from her last vision in the asylum. The male was blonde with long hair and dressed in a fur coat and slacks. The female had fiery red hair that seemed too unruly to tame. Alice saw both pairs of eyes and knew that these were the monsters that would've killed her had she been human. 

The blonde man's eyes widened and he sneered at the current state of his latest catch.

"Well, this is unexpected."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kumboh was solely created by Stephanie Meyer for the short film known as The Groundskeeper. It was nice to see a little bit of Alice's backstory with this since everyone else's origin popped up throughout the original Saga.   
> Yes I did have Alice remember her human life because it would be one of the dramatic build ups to this story. I believed that once she was turned, every part of her began to heal, even the damage done to her brain during the electroshock therapy.


	4. All things New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Over the years, Alice trains herself to drink animal blood and not human. This is all thanks to the visions she had of the Cullen Family. The chapter is loosely based on the short film We've Met Before. The entire premise of the film is the romance between Alice and Jasper, but this is my story so I just nixed that whole thing and put meeting Jasper and the entire Cullen Family together.

"Well this is unexpected."

The man spoke in an eloquent northern accent. The woman beside him held his hand tightly and whispered in his ear.

"This just makes the game more fun, James." She said before kissing the tip of his ear lobe.

James shivered with the voice of his mate in his ear. He looked at the redhead and kissed her fiercely. Alice began to feel slightly uncomfortable at the display. When they separated, James spoke again. "When you're right, you're right Victoria." He paused remembering the song that Alice's blood had sang to him a few days ago. "But I miss the song." James almost looked sad at the fact that he could no longer drink the girl's blood.

He turned his attention to the larger man in overalls. "You took her from me, didn't you."

Kumboh stepped up to the tracker and said defiantly. "Yes, and I would do it again."

James and Victoria both hissed at the red eyed vampire and was ready to pounce on him.

"Alice, you need to run." The dark skinned man whispered. Alice for her part didn’t want to be separated from her maker. This man was the only one that had showed her any kindness since her mother and she didn’t want to lose another huge part of her life. Kumboh meant so much to her, but she knew this day was coming. She was really thankful for the time they had spent together. Two pairs of blood red eyes looked at one another once more before Alice took off in the distance.

Both nomads were about to go after the newborn, but a certain crystal eyed man stopped James's progress. Kumboh was using his power to make sure that Alice got away with enough distance between them. He knew he would not survive this fight and he was just fine with that. Kumboh believed that his purpose in life was to find someone that needed him just as much as he needed them. The crowned prince found that in the small seer. "I am not your enemy." Kumboh said to the blonde. He directed him to his mate and said. "She is trying to steal your kill." His hypnosis would only be temporary but it was enough. When it would end, he would fight the two vampires with every ounce of strength he had left. It was the only way his conscience would be clear.

As James and Victoria fought one another, Kumboh could feel his hold on the man growing weaker by the second. He had resigned himself to accept his death now and dropped the thrall. Hopefully Alice had gotten far enough away that they wouldn’t catch her scent. Both nomads looked to the groundskeeper then and tore him apart limb by limb. Kumboh never cried once in pain. He had a good life both human and vampire. It was now his time to go. He felt the final tug of his head forcefully leaving his body and his lifeless eyes stared at the scene above him.

James and Victoria stood side by side grinning from ear to ear. The man took out a match from the box in his pocket and swiped it against his cheek. Bright flame was atop the stick of wood and when he dropped it on the disembodied head he laughed. He looked out into the distance as his enemy became a pile of molten ash. It was the way Alice had ran.

James honestly thought about going after the newborn, but then thought better of it. He wanted to see how feral she would become without her mentor. Maybe he would find her again in a few years and play this game he loved so much. Only the future would tell.  
_______________

Alice believed she knew the meaning of speed, but as she ran through the forest that day, she watched as trees blurred beside her. She felt the water of rivers splash on her ankles. Her speed was nothing compared to what she had felt before. Alice reached a clearing in the trees before she smelled more blood. This time however it was dull. Almost muddled in a way.

Small animal footsteps made their way across the forest floor. Alice didn’t know what they were but they had to be a nimble sort of creature. The closer she stepped toward the sound, the more she realized that she had come across a herd of deer. They looked so peaceful and majestic in the sunlight, feeding on the grass below their feet. The tiny vampire felt the familiar burn in her throat and was tempted to move on to find another source of blood. However the pull in her body became too strong and Alice was forced to follow the call.

Her eyes grew black as she hunted the largest buck of the herd. He had large antlers and a muscular body; he had to be the leader. As soon as Alice stepped out into the clearing, the animal's ears perked up and they were instantly on high alert. She then chose that moment to pounce on her prey like a wild animal. In mid stride, Alice caught the buck around his neck and instantly bit into him. There was no sense in toying with this one. She didn’t want to cause the creature anymore harm than necessary. She brought her hands around the snout of the deer and twisted sharply, when she heard the resonating crack of the neck, Alice knew that she was aloud to drink freely.

By the time she was done with her meal, all of the other deer had scattered to the wind. Alice was again alone in the forest. Alone and without a way to survive in this world; no family to call her own. She thought about her mother and her sister. They were her family before the asylum. She protected them from her father's wrath every chance she could get. Then she thought about Kumboh. The man had created her, sacrificed himself so that she could survive another day. He had shown her such a great kindness during her time at the facility, and now she had a feeling that he was gone.

Alice wanted to cry once more for everything that she had lost within the span of a couple of days. But as the tears welled up inside of her, a vision clouded her mind. The pixie was grateful for the sight and welcomed it like an old friend, even though she had no idea what it had in store for her.

Vision:

**The fog in her vision parted to find a beautiful girl standing in a forest littered with trees; large ones from the floor to the very sky. It was an overcast day so Alice had no fear of her skin shining in the sunlight.**

**The girl was wearing a jacket with a hood covering her head.**

**'How odd.' Alice thought as she went closer to the individual in front of her.**

**The girl in her vision turned around to see what was behind her and that’s when Alice jumped into the trees. The tiny girl was nervous to say the least from her perch on a thick tree branch. As she sat there, she could feel tiny drops of rain pattering on her skin. It was a light sprinkle, but rain all the same. Alice looked down at the girl with her head leaned up toward the sky. She looked content at the feeling of the water droplets on her skin, almost happy. Did this girl like the rain just as Alice did? She didn’t know; brown hair peeked out from the hood. Long hair just like Alice's own before she was turned. Oh how she longed to feel the chocolate tresses in her fingertips.**

**The girl had a thin heart-shaped face and when she laughed at the rain falling upon her, Alice couldn’t think of a more beautiful sound. It was almost musical to her. She watched the girl in her vision for what seemed like forever, but when the girl opened her eyes to reveal a bright green color, Alice gasped at the sight. It was almost as if the girl was looking straight into her then. It was as if she saw straight through her and saw everything that made Alice who she was.**

Present:

As the tiny vampire came out of the vision, she said only one word; a name.

"Bella."

_____________________________

For years she wandered the world honing her skills and her self control when it came to human blood. Alice hunted graceful animals like deer and large majestic ones like mountain lion and bears. As time went on she had the same vision of the same girl. When she wandered through small towns and large cities alike, she never found the girl with the heart shaped face and piercing green eyes. But she eventually had a vision of her future family. They were led by a man with bleach blonde hair and sharp features. His wife and mate had copper hair and a gentle nature. She was almost like a mother figure to everyone in the group. Their first child had unruly dark hair and a chip on his shoulder. Why did he looks so sad all of the time? Alice wondered often.

There were two other boys and one other girl. The males caught her eyes one because of his unnatural size even for a vampire. He looked like a bear in vampire form. The other had pale coral eyes and bite marks covering his entire body. Alice knew that the boy had been through hardships once or twice in his immortal life. His eyes signified his newness to the diet of animal blood.

Everyone had looked so happy as a family, even the brooding boy. It wasn’t until 1948 that she actually met the large group of vampires. Alice was on a hunt in the forest around Philadelphia when she caught their scent, so in her pretty off-white dress with red and black stripes across the chest, Alice took off to find her new family.

An individual was feeding on a deer when she came across them. It was the blonde girl from her vision. She was absolutely stunning and had great taste in clothes. Alice looked into her golden eyes as she wiped away the remnants of blood on her lips. At first the other girl was cautious of Alice, but the tiny seer just smiled widely.

"Hello! I'm Alice!" She greeted cheerfully.

Bright copper eyes met her own and the other girl waited another moment before replying.

"You're not from around here, are you?" The blonde asked subtly.

"Not one bit." Alice giggled before holding out her hand. "You and your family certainly kept me waiting long enough."

The other girl was significantly taller than Alice so she looked down at her and looked at her strangely. "Rosalie Hale." She reached out to tentatively shake the other girls outstretched hand.

Alice had a vision then of the others converging on their location. "Don’t worry, the rest of your family will be here soon." Rosalie looked at Alice again very disbelievingly and took a breath to ask what she had been talking about, but as soon as she began to speak, her father, mother, brothers and mate came to a halt at their position.

Alice laughed and clapped her hands in joy while jumping up and down. She couldn’t believe her luck. Vampires that fed on animals just as she did. That was just the bees knees.

The mother came forward and put a hand on Rosalie's shoulder.

"Are you alright dear? We heard voices."

The group now looked to Alice and she had a wide loving smile on her face. If it was possible it would reach from ear to ear. "My name is Alice."

Out of caution for the entire family, the bleach blonde man stepped forward. His hair was slicked back with gel, but Alice could tell that he was a kind hearted man. He looked her over critically, his copper colored eyes gazed over her short stature. Alice had her hands behind her back and was twiddling her thumbs waiting for the man to speak.

She looked over at Rosalie with the tall bulky boy. That must have been her boyfriend. They were holding hands and barely separated from one another. Then she looked over at the blonde boy with the bite marks all over him. Alice instantly felt sad for him. It was one thing to see the scars in a vision, but now, here in front of her, it was hard for the girl to contain her sadness. Just as she looked into his pale coral eyes, she felt a unusual sensation. One of unbridled happiness that she herself wasn’t feeling. It was odd to say the least. Alice never had her emotions be manipulated like that.

The tiny vampire could hear a scoff from off to the side and could see the unruly haired boy. It was like he was reading her like a book. It made Alice feel uneasy. She swayed back and forth so she could concentrate on something other than her stare.

The mother with the dark copper hair saw the interaction and reprimanded her son.

"Edward!" She said with a harsh tone. "Don’t be rude."

"Sorry Esme." The boy said as he tilted his head down in shame of being caught.

Carlisle only shook his head at Edward's antics and said.

"I apologize for my son, Alice. He has the ability to read minds." Edward looked up at his father and maker.

"I was only being cautious Carlisle." He spoke.

The elder of the coven pointed over at the blonde boy.

"This is Jasper. He's the newest addition to our family and therefore not accustomed to our way of feeding. He is also an empath. He can feel the emotions of those him and manipulate them to how he sees fit." Jasper put out his hand for Alice to shake.

The girl smiled and shook his hand joyfully. Then further introductions were made. The other vampires in the family did not have gifts in the way that she, Edward and Jasper had. However, Esme had great compassion for those around her; Rosalie was very beautiful, more beautiful than Esme and Alice herself, and neither of them were bad looking; and Emmett (the tall boy with bulging muscles) he was stronger than your conventional vampire. Each vampire had enhanced senses, strength and speed, but Emmett's strength surpassed everyone's. He was also funny and possessed a humor that matched Alice's own.

She looked up to the sky then, hearing thunder in the distance. Alice could smell the rain in the air and cheered gleefully as she remembered her love for the foul weather. She took this as a sign that her life was finally just beginning. Her adventure was finally about to start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to keep Kristen Stewarts green eyes for this story. I honestly think that it was a travesty to have her gorgeous eyes covered by brown contacts but I get that Stephanie Meyer wanted brown eyes for her character.


	5. Bella

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's as the chapter says. This is Bella's life in a nutshell. The Volturi will also make an appearance in this chapter when we go back to little Alice Cullen and they are mostly OC; mainly because I love Michael Sheen and I don't want to make him a bad guy or asshole.

Time passes like a flowing river to some, but to others it passes like molasses in winter. It's 1987 when a newborn Isabella Marie Swan crawls her way into the world. She's a loud crier and fragile as her mother and father hold her for the first time. Her eyes are grey when she is first born but as she grows older, their the brightest green that anyone has ever seen.

At the age of two, her mother and father divorce and Renee takes the young toddler with her back to Downy, California. It’s not a glamorous life for the pair because Isabella's grandmother is a hard woman to please. For a while the two were stuck in that house just surviving off of Renee's mother; but then the young mother found the courage to go to college and start her education toward a career. Being a kindergarten teacher fit the woman well because she was such a free spirit.

By the time Bella turned six, Renee had enough money to move again; this time it was to Phoenix, Arizona. It was a dry heat that was comfortable for a time. Over the summers in her childhood, she went to visit her father Charlie Swan in Forks, Washington. It was the largest contrast she had ever seen to the town that she lived in now. She didn’t need to put her long brown hair up in a ponytail to keep her cool. Bella, as she was now being called (the name Isabella sounded too old to her ears) enjoyed her time with her father. She also met a few of the natives from the reservation called La Push.

Billy Black was the best friend of her father, and he had three children; two twin girls and a boy, Rebecca, Rachel, and Jacob. They played together on the reservation when Charlie visited his friend or when the two older men went fishing. With Jacob being the odd man out, so to speak, the girls would often gang up on him and he would do whatever they wanted to do. When it was time for Bella to go back to Arizona with her mother, she always cried. She said that she was going to miss her friends and her daddy, which always made Charlie cry though he tried not to show it.

Over the years, the visits got less and less frequent. Bella got new friends at new schools and she kind of didn’t have as much time as she would've liked. Renee carried on being a teacher in Phoenix and one of her collogues mentioned the name of a man that she really should meet. Phil Dwyer was his name and he was a minor baseball player. The romance between the two took off and they got serious rather quickly. They even got married the same month Bella turned 17.

With Phil's career, that meant he had to travel a lot. Renee often came home sullen to the fact that her husband was never home. So the next time the player was in town, Bella encouraged her mother to go with him. He actually had gotten a position with a team in Florida. The two were so excited for the opportunity and asked Bella countless times if she was really okay with the arrangement. It was the teen herself that suggested that she live with her father in Forks until she was old enough to go out on her own.

So, that brings us to this moment now. Bella Marie Swan stands in the sun with her baby cactus pot in the palm of her hands. She breathes in the warm air of the home that she knew for so many years and calmed herself for the plane ride to come. Sure she remembers the times that she flew up to see Charlie, but it had been so long.

She takes one last look at the mountain range in her backyard and hears a car honk for her attention. Renee is in the driver seat while Phil puts the rest of her stuff in the trunk. Bella had already packed some of her stuff the night before into the vehicle so there wasn’t much left to do. Other than say goodbye of course. The ride to the airport was quiet with Bella looking out of the window most of the time.

When the two women arrived, Renee and Bella unloaded the luggage, checked it in, and made their way to the gate with the teens carryon. The young passenger got out her boarding pass and her identification and looked at her mother. Of course Renee had tears in her eyes about ready to burst.

"I'm gonna be okay mom. I promise." She said as she hugged the older woman around the middle.

"Oh I know you are sweetheart. You're a strong young woman. Just call me when you land." Renee said with a sniffle. Bella chuckled and wiped a stray tear from her mothers cheek.

"As soon as I get to Charlie's house I will call you."

Renee nodded her affirmation and began to walk away. She didn’t get far before she turned around and asked her daughter.

"Are you sure you don’t just want to come with us? I mean there is enough room for the three of us." She really tried to make a point for the situation but honestly, the more Bella had thought about traveling with her mother and new husband, the more she wanted to hurl.

"Goodbye mom! I'll call you when I get into town." Bella said loudly as she walked toward the security check point.

Being in a plane wasn’t as scary as she thought it would be. It was rather quite relaxing. When they were at peak altitude, Bella put her headphones in her ears to listen to music on her iPod. She was so glad that she made this playlist ahead of time. As the rhythm played in her ears, she could feel herself falling asleep. Her eyelids grew heavy and when they finally closed darkness was all she saw.

As Bella slept however, she had the weirdest dream. Fog littered most of the landscape but there was something that couldn’t be hidden. A pair of bright gold eyes. They were mesmerizing. She began to see the makings of a face, skin and hair mostly, but nothing that would reveal the person in her dreams. Bella felt a calming warmth in her heart as she gazed into these eyes, but suddenly her whole dream shattered and became a nightmare.

Blood red eyes looked manic at her. As the moments passed by, the red disappeared and eventually they turned black; black with hunger. The fog around the eyes itself gave way to the face of a man. He had sharp canine teeth with saliva dripping from them. Just as the face lunged at her, a voice screamed her name.

"BELLA!"

The sleeping teen heard someone speaking her name. One of her headphones must have fallen out during the flight. Once consciousness started coming back to her, Bella jostled herself away. She shook the hair from her eyes and brought her hand to the corner of her mouth to check for any drool. With none there, she looked around her seat and saw that she was the only one left on the plane. They reached their destination in record time.

The stewardess smiled politely at her and gave a hand to the girl by the window. Bella smiled back in thanks and when she was in the aisle, she reached up and got the carryon she brought with her from the upper compartment.

Bella walked to the door of the plane and saw the steps leading down to the tarmac. Out in the distance was her father Charlie Swan. He showed up in a police car. During one of his calls, he did mention that he was chief of police now and that came with some perks. Bella supposed that picking up your daughter in a squad car was one of them. She waved at the grizzled man and walked down the steps toward the vehicle.

She stopped in front of her father and the two seemed almost at a loss for words. Sure they had spoken to each other over the years, but it had been a while since they had seen one another in person. After an awkward greeting and side hug, the two entered the police vehicle. Bella was in the passenger seat and Charlie was in the driver seat.

At first it felt odd being back here, especially when she was being escorted to her new home in a cop car. Bella looked out the window at her childhood town. She barely remembered it but she had a feeling that it hadn't changed one bit. Bella was thankful that her father didn’t feel the need to talk and the two rode in silence. Renee practically begged her for conversation during car rides.

Her green eyes flittered across the speeding foliage passing by and realized that she might have a lot here to do. Even in her clumsy state, she loved to go into either the desert or the forest and go hiking. Sometimes she would lose her balance and roll her ankle wrong, but that was part of the adventure.

When they arrived home, Bella took in the sight of her childhood home. It was white with a black roof and a set of stairs leading to the porch. Just as she had remembered it. She was glad that somethings didn’t change, it was kind of a security blanket. Charlie pulled into the driveway and pulled back toward the shed. Bella saw a large object underneath a tarp next to the stopped patrol vehicle and wondered briefly at what it could be. But as she got her luggage from the trunk of the car, she felt the familiar grogginess that came with jetlag.

Bella yawned loudly and thanked whatever was out there that it was Saturday. All she wanted to do tomorrow was sleep in, get unpacked, set up her laptop that she had gotten for her 17th birthday and call her mom. Sure the teen promised Renee that she would call when she got to town, but now she was just exhausted. As she followed Charlie up the stairs to her bedroom, her father stated that it was just as she left it. When he opened the door, Bella saw exactly what he meant.

The bedroom was still the same lavender purple that she had as a child. It was also decorated the same way. Magazine pictures of boy bands and girl singers alike littered the painted walls, and a string of lights was just above the bed. Bella remembered begging her father to help her put those up. Rachel and Rebecca Black had the same lights in their bedrooms so she wanted to be just like them. Briefly, she wondered if she should get in contact with the Black children again. They had been such good friends as kids, but Bella knew that time changed everything.

"Do you…Do you need anything Bells." Charlie spoke up quietly. The use of her nickname put a smile on the girls' face. She turned around and put her hand on her fathers shoulder.

"No dad. Everything is great. I think I'm just gonna get some rest though; with the long flight and all."

Charlie nodded in understanding and took the time to really hug his daughter. He kissed the top of her head as she buried her face in his chest. It was so nice to have Bella home again, that much Charlie knew. He had missed her so much in her time away.

"Okay hun. Get some rest; we'll catch up with everyone tomorrow." The police chief smiled as he backed out of Bella's room and closed the door.

Stretching out her tired muscles felt great for Bella. She unpacked some of her pajamas that were in her carryon and replaced her airplane clothes with them. Once she removed her shirt, she felt the cool air circulating in her room. Bella looked to the open window in the center of her left wall and noticed it was open. Jeeze, did Charlie leave it open for the room to air out? It was bloody freezing. So, Bella went over to the window and pushed it shut. She then got dressed in her pajama's and fell face first in her pillow to get some much needed rest.

________________________

Alice Cullen, formerly known as Mary Alice Brandon looks out from her perch in a tree top. A thick branch held her weight as she sat there contemplating the entire 90 years she had been a vampire. The family she had found all of those years ago, accepted her without question. Esme was everything to her. She was every part the mother she had lost. Her touch was warm and kind just like her heart.

Carlisle was the father figure she had longed for. He was filled to the brim with information on their kind. Carlisle also told her about the control he had obtained in his early years as a vampire. When he was first turned, he was appalled at what he had become. He tried to kill himself multiple times, starvation, jumping off of cliffs, staking himself in the heart, but none of those had worked. When he found that he was stuck this way for the rest of his existence, Carlisle sought new ways for vampires to feed. He was the first to drink on animal blood to survive. The blonde never touched the human stuff. His self control and the desperate need to help others was one of the reasons why he became a doctor.

Alice was stunned by his sense of self control on human blood right from the beginning. Everyone in her family, including Esme had killed a human for sustenance. It was their burden to bare. Carlisle had also asked about her gift and studied it multiple times. Experiments were done to see how well they could rely on such a gift. When they had confirmed Alice's foresight to be important to their lifestyle, the entire Cullen family went across the sea by boat to Italy. Every new member of a vampire coven had to meet the famous, or infamous, Volturi coven at least once.

At first, Alice was a little put off by the three brothers. Aro was the oldest and therefore the leader. He had been changed in the year 1300 B.C. in Greece. It was a different time then. One of such debauchery and sin. Caius was the young blonde standing to the right of Aro. He looked to be not much older than Alice herself when he was turned into a vampire. Marcus however looked to be about the same age if not a little older than the leader. He held a certain sadness in his eyes that the tiny girl couldn’t read.

Carlisle and the three brothers greeted each other like the doctor had been one of their own. It was true that her father had studied under them for a time and they even tried to get Carlisle to grow accustomed to their more natural diet. Of course the Cullen patriarch had refused, but he did instill some knowledge of his own onto the Volturi kings and their guard. Carlisle had suggested blood banks for the elder vampires so they wouldn’t have to go out and kill innocent people for their food.

At first Caius was against the whole idea, but his wife Athenodora looked slightly interested. So did Sulpicia, Aro's wife. The women had convinced their husbands to think on this idea and not long after that, the blood banks were implemented in the Volturi facility.

Even though the three brothers had red eyes, signifying their diet of human blood, she felt a certain kinship to them. Caius and Marcus greeted Alice and shook her hand as the new member of the Cullen family. Aro waited a moment, looking at the small girl curiously. He was wondering something. The man held out his hand for Alice to take. This was not in greeting however, this was to use his power of tactile telepathy. He could read minds just like Edward, but the key difference between the two powers was the fact that Aro had to touch the person to access their mind.

When Alice placed her hand in his, Aro watched as her entire life had unfolded. All of the tragedy and sadness, but also all of the joy and triumph.

"She has the gift of foresight." The lord said plainly releasing the girl's hand. He looked at her in wonder and with a large smile on his face.

"This would be a great boon to our own guard, if you don’t mind me saying my friend." He stated to Carlisle. Aro had already tried to recruit Edward when he first read him, but was denied. Alice meekly stepped back with her family and held onto Esme's waist. Carlisle took that as his answer and so did Aro. It was a great blow to be sure, but they hadn't forced anyone into their ranks in a long, long time.

The family left and made their way to the town of Denali and spent their years their in seclusion with another family. Tanya, Kate, Irina, Laurent, Carmen, and finally Elezar. They had been the third largest coven ever in existence. The first being the Volturi and secondly the Cullen's. Tanya was the leader of the coven and found love with Edward soon after their arrival. They married a couple of years later and low and behold, their family melded together.

Carlisle immediately sent word to the royal vampires about the union and sent some of their guard to confirm as such. When the observations of the covens were made, they had returned with nothing but good news. They all remained in Denali for a few years more, but then the Cullen-Denali clan all moved back to Forks, Washington.

_________________________________________

Alice was so thankful to be back here with all of the trees and lovely weather. She was overjoyed at the fact that sunny days were few and far between, even in the summertime. Her favorite tree was the one she was perched in now. The seer had come here after every hunt to find some solace from the large family. She loved all of her brothers, sisters, aunt and uncle, but sometimes it all became so much.

She closed her eyes and breathed in the night air a breeze whipped passed her, rustling her short hair, but this wasn’t the only thing that peeked her interest. It was a scent on the wind. It was mouthwatering to say the least, but not because of the blood, it was because of something else. Alice looked across the tree line and instantly made her way towards the heavenly aroma. She ran across the branches like a ninja and it didn’t take long for her to reach her destination.

'Ah, the police chief's daughter finally made it to town.' She thought to herself as she dropped on to the narrow road.

Her golden eyes flitted across the yard and finally found where the scent was coming from. An upstairs window with an oak tree just outside it. Alice smiled as she climbed the tree, looking for a certain face through the window.

The vision of the girl with the green eyes and heart-shaped face always haunted her thoughts and desires. That vision from so long ago was the only one she had ever had but it sparked something inside of her. The first time she ever looked into those bright green eyes, Alice could swear that her dead heart began to beat once more. As she looked into the dark room however, all she could see was a mop of long brown hair.

She sighed longingly looking at the girl asleep in her bed and she even contemplated making her way inside, but she knew that was beyond creepy. Alice took a deep unneeded breath and jumped down from the branch, resigning herself to wait until Monday. It was only another day. What was the harm in that?


	6. Ugh, High School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here, we get to the meat of the story. Bella finally attends Forks High and her destiny aligns with that of our friendly neighborhood pixie-vamp. Emmett's in here too and I kind of like what I did with him.

Bella Swan woke up on Monday morning feeling relaxed and refreshed for the day ahead. 

The day before:

Sunday had been wonderful. She woke up, ran downstairs to get a bowl of cereal, and of course found her father sitting in his lazy-boy recliner watching an early game of football. Charlie's friend Billy Black had been there along with his son Jacob. The three said their pleasantries and Bella gave her condolences to Billy about the accident that crippled him. He now had to sped the rest of his life in a wheelchair. He also lost Sarah; his wife and mother of his children. 

When Jacob stood up to give Bella a hug, she realized how tall he had become in the long years she was away. Her forehead reached to his Adam's apple. She looked up to look him in the eyes and Jake still had that childlike mirth in his eyes. He was always ready to play jokes, but this time he had something else up his sleeve. Jacob led Bella outside to the side-yard to show her the present Charlie, him and his father had gotten for her. It was sure a welcoming gift. Jake tore off the tarp to reveal a large rusty red pickup truck. Bella had just learned to drive when she was sixteen years old but never had the money for her own car. She was so excited that she didn’t have to be taken to school the next day in a patrol car. 

When she told this to Jake, he chuckled. 

"Yeah, you'll already be the talk of the whole town for being the new girl." 

Bella groaned at this. She didn’t want any unnecessary attention. 

The rest of the day was spent talking and catching up with her old friend. He even brought her to the reservation where he lived and where they played as children. Bella got the nerve to ask about his sisters and how they were doing, but the boy just looked at the ground with his long hair covering his face. He said that neither of his sisters took the loss of their mother well. One went away for college and the other got married. So it was just him and his dad now. 

They ran in to some other kids on the reservation. Quil and Embry, both were children of the elders of their home. All four of them walked down to the beach and threw rocks into the water while they all talked about whatever they wanted. The group had been interrupted though by a group of shirtless native men. It had been freezing out, Bella and the others were wearing jackets and these showoffs were wearing nothing but torn jeans. What the heck?

Jake explained that the group that just passed them was lead by a older boy called Sam. Sam Uley was a large teen even for his age. Muscles littered his entire body. Another less tall but just as muscular boy named Paul stood at Sam's right side. The others trailed behind them like a pack of wild dogs. They all went up to a large cliff area. Bella, Jake, Embry and Quil watched as one by one the group of about 5 or 10 jump from that cliff. The girl screamed as one of the boys almost hit the rocks surrounding the area. She was surprised that the elders allowed this type of behavior, but Embry told her that it was really no big deal. He didn’t want to confront any of the older kids about it so he kept his mouth shut. 

The four of them chatted for a couple more hours until it was time for Bella to leave. She had school in the morning and wanted to get a good nights rest for the day. 

Present:

Bella whipped off her sheets and got dressed in one of her favorite outfits. A green mock jersey with torn jeans and a jean jacket. She completed the ensemble with a pair of black army boots. Her hair left something to be desired, but she didn’t have the time. She could smell something burnt coming from the kitchen downstairs, so she quickly brushed her teeth to avoid the nauseating morning breath and raced down the rickety stairs. 

She nearly burst out laughing when she saw Charlie bustling over the stove making some kind of breakfast food. She couldn’t tell whether it was pancakes or what. Going to the man standing over his burnt creation, Bella kissed him on the cheek and said. 

"Thanks for trying dad." Charlie huffed in defeat and watched as his daughter raced out of the door with a piece of brown toast hanging out of her mouth. 

"Have a good day Bella!" He yelled as the front door shut with a click. 

___________________

The drive to school wasn’t a long one so she really had no worry of being late on her first day. There had been a few snags with her truck however as it had stalled at the red light leading to the main road. Bella started it again with a few turns of the key but the damage had been done. A few teenagers riding in another, newer truck pointed and laughed at the new girls troubles. 

"Oh the joys of High School." She muttered as she pulled up in the main parking lot. 

Cliques of all kinds littered the tarmac leading to the school. The jocks and cheerleaders were the first she saw. They looked at her uneasily as she parked her big red truck next to a dark blue van. Bella got her bag from the passenger seat and got out of her vehicle. She could feel all sorts of eyes on her now. She tensed but never let herself be overwhelmed by all of the attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she found two very expensive looking cars in the parking lot. A BMW Convertible, and a Lincoln Town-car. Those cars probably cost more money than she would ever see in her life. 

As she was walking to the principal's office to announce herself as the new girl, an Asian boy stepped beside her. He had shoulder length black hair and chestnut eyes. 

"You must be the new girl they're all talking about." He said kindly. The boy thought about her name for a second and announced. "Isabella, right?" It was almost horrifying to hear her full name out of another kids' mouth. "Just Bella, please." She said with a smile. "Eric Yorkie." He had this big goofy grin on his face that it was kind of hard to resist. Bella smiled back and gave her name too before shaking his outstretched hand. The two walked to the office and Eric had asked Bella why she was here of all places. 

"My mom wanted to travel with my step-dad and I didn’t want to stay by myself in Phoenix. So this was the better option I guess." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Man that's so cool that your dad is the police chief though. Does he set a curfew for you?" There were so many questions following this and Bella's brain hurt trying to sort through them all. When they reached the office the teens said their goodbyes. "See ya, Bella. I hope we have at least one class together. If not, there's always lunch." Eric laughed as he walked away. Bella entered the office to get her schedule. The staff there were pretty nice and knew who she was the moment she walked through the door. The secretary at the front desk printed out her class schedule and handed it right to her.

"I'll get someone to bring you to class dear." She got on the microphone and asked any hall monitor to come and retrieve her. They made slight conversation, but nothing really stuck for Bella. She was too busy looking over the piece of paper in front of her. The first class she had was history. Bella inwardly cheered, for she loved the subject. Ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek/Roman history were her favorite things to learn about. 

She lifted a single fist and knocked on the door before entering. Bright green eyes flittered about the room taking in every single person in there, but what really struck her was a girl sitting by the window. Her face lit up with a smile as she saw the intense beauty. The girl had to be about 5'3 and as she looked out the glass next to her, Bella honestly thought that she was contemplating the meaning of life. 

"Well Ms. Swan, it looks like the only seat we have available is right next to Ms. Cullen. Raise your hand dear." The teacher said. She looked like a nice older woman who had a bunch of cats roaming her house. 

The girl known as Ms. Cullen raised her hand and Bella walked to the empty desk. 

Alice continued to look out the window when someone behind her tapped her on the shoulder. That someone had been her sister-in-law Kate. The blonde honey eyed girl nodded her head toward the aisle to grasp Alice's attention away from the window. Alice turned her head and gasped out loud. She could hear nothing but the new girl's heartbeat in her ears. The pixie saw the piercing green eyes and the long brown hair of the girl she had seen in her vision all of those years ago. It was her! Her mate was finally here! 

Kate whispered quietly enough for only Alice to hear. "That's the chick from your vision, right?" Alice could only nod. She told every one of her premonition years ago before they even moved back to Forks. Kate took it upon herself to be the little vampire's wingman or wing woman if your prefer. The two had been close friends since the Cullen's showed up on their snowy doorstep. Alice with her bubbly smile and voice, her cheery disposition, even with everything she had been through in her life. Alice's pure attitude was infectious. 

Kate was really the only one who wanted to help her 'get the girl' other than Emmett. Everyone else in the family was really apprehensive about the whole thing with Bella being human and all. Edward and Rosalie was particularly against the idea of a vampire mating with a human, but Alice argued that she couldn’t help who she loved. It wasn’t like it was a choice! Her heart wanted Bella. The matter of her mate being human was just a massive oversight. 

Alice watched as her Bella walked down the aisle and to the empty desk beside her. Honestly, she had no idea what she raised her hand for in the beginning of class but now she wasn’t really regretting it. 

Bella looked over at the small girl and smiled. Kate and Alice smiled back. The human finally got a good look at the two of them. Both of them had honey colored eyes, but the blonde girl had striking features. Her eyes were almost almond shaped and her lips were full. The smaller of the two had big round doe eyes; ones that Bella could imagine drowning in over a cup of coffee. 

"I'm Alice." The beauty smiled and introduced herself. "This is my cousin, Kate." The girl in question smiled and waved in greeting. 

"Bella.. Bella Swan."

As the three girls turned their attention to the lesson, Alice thought to herself. 'Oh I know who you are, my Bella.'

_________________________________________________

The day dragged on and lunch was soon upon them. Bella had only one more class with a Cullen and that was Gym with Emmet. He looked like a nice guy despite his size. His goofy grin was wide enough to cover the entire gymnasium floor. The sport that they decided to play in class was volleyball. The teacher picked two team captains, one was Emmett and the other was a guy named Mike Newton. Now Mike was rather creepy. He had this look about him that said he could get whatever he wanted and at the moment what he wanted was Bella. 

The look that the jock was giving her was enough to make her skin crawl. Thankfully, when Emmett picked his team for the game, he picked Bella first. She gave the amber-eyed boy a large smile and gave him a high five. The teen saw a slight resemblance between Emmett and Alice, with their dark hair, same color eyes and awesome personality, but that's where the similarities ended. 

Emmett Cullen was a force to be reckoned with when it came to sports. Even though he stayed in the back of the team-up, he carried his entire side to victory. The coach blew the whistle signaling the end of class and told the students to go to the locker room and change before the bell rung.

Mike Newton's team was still a little sore about losing. The jock wasn’t used to it since he was the star of his football team. Something hit his foot and when he looked down, he saw the game ball hitting his toe. Mike picked up the ball with both hands and looked for an easy target to chuck it at. Bella was taking a breather and congratulating her teammates when he had a douchie idea. Without a word, the stupid blonde jock pelted the ball right at the back of the brunettes head. But just before it made an impact, a large hand reached out and grabbed it around the circumference. 

Bella gasped as she heard the slight impact from the ball hitting Emmett's hand. She turned and looked at the scene and was so surprised that she fell backwards into the boy's chest. He just stood there stock still not even bothered by the collision with Bella's body. Emmett was glaring daggers at the blonde offender looking pretty pissed off. But why? Its not like Bella and Emmett were friends; maybe he just didn’t care for bullying much. 

"T-thanks a lot Emmett." Bella stuttered trying to regain her balance. 

Letting out one final growl at the bully high schooler, the large man looked down at his teammate with a smile. 

"No worries, Bella Bear." With a wink of his right eye, Emmett tossed the ball back to Mike.

The toss was a little harder than anticipated the ball hit Newton square in the gut. The jock let out a loud grunt and when the ball landed on the gym floor, so did the blonde. He was clutching his stomach and Bella looked up at her savior. Emmett was chuckling at the sight of the bully in pain. 

"See ya at lunch, kid." He spoke as he walked toward the locker room. 

Before he arrived however, Emmett grabbed the pained Mike Newton by the collar of his shirt, lifted him up with ease and growled in his face. 

"If I ever see you do that kind of shit again Newton, you'll have more to worry about." 

Bella smiled at the scene and laughed behind her hand. 

"Well this is going to be an interesting year." She thought to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Tanya and Edward are married, I didn't want to split the two covens up so now they're a melded family. Like the Brady-Bunch :). Kate is gonna be one of those characters that like's to crack all sorts of jokes and mischief. So watch out for that fiery blonde.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *With Beetlejuice flourish* It's lunchtime!

After gym class, Bella walked over to the cafeteria. She bumped into Eric Yorkie on the way there and the two struck up a conversation about her day. Bella rubbed the back of her head where the volleyball had almost struck her. Noticing her grimace, Eric asked her what had happened. The confused brunette told her new friend about the incident and he looked not at all surprised. 

"Don’t hold it against him too much. Mike is a good guy, just very competitive." 

The two students walked through the double doors to the café and Bella was shocked by just how many kids attended this school. Eric laughed and led her over to the lunch line where some of his friends gathered for their food. He kissed the cheek of a young girl with long brown hair, sweet brown eyes, and glasses. 

Noticing the blush to the girl's tan skin, Bella introduced herself. 

"Hey Bella, I'm Angela; Angela Weber. I hope Eric hasn’t been a total nuisance." She said with a giggle.

Eric, who seemed to be Angela's boyfriend, put a hand on his chest feigning offense. 

"Oh you wound me, darling Angie. I've just been walking our resident new girl to her classes so she doesn’t get lost." Eric then reached out and held his girlfriend's hand. The couple walked to the table after they got their food, but Bella looked very much like a third wheel. Her green eyes were plastered to the floor below her, always watching for a stray chair leg that she could possibly trip over. 

Bella Swan was an above average girl when it came to her looks, but her coordination left a few things to be desired. She was clumsy to say the least, but thankfully the table that Eric and Angela shared with the rest of their group wasn’t too far into the cafeteria. It was what you'd expect from a high school setting. A round piece of furniture with a white wooden top with white and metal chairs surrounding it. It was large enough to fit about 8 to ten people though so their entire clique could gather for the time being. 

She sighed when she saw Mike sitting down with his back turned to her. Bella was still kinda sore about the trick he tried to pull on her earlier in gym, but Eric vouched for him so she walked around to an empty chair and sat down. With her food in front of her, Bella introduced herself to the rest of the group. There were two popular looking girls named Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory, another jock named Tyler Crowley, and a bookworm named Ben Chaney. 

Bella was sure that she would get to chat with them all on their own time, but it was Mike who chimed in first. 

"Hey Bella, I'm really sorry for what happened in Gym today." He said with a sad and apologetic face. She wasn’t sure what to say to him so she just nodded in acceptance. Bella stuck her fork in her salad that she had gotten in the line and began munching on the crunchy lettuce. 

In mid-chew, the brunette Jessica looked outside the window which was just over Bella's shoulder. 

"Here they come." Jessica spoke nodding to her blonde friend. 

"Who are 'they'?" The new girl spoke to the table. Once everyone looked around and saw what the other girls were referring to, the group nodded. 

"Why the Cullen's of course." Lauren Mallory piped in with a snobbish tone. 

Bella looked maneuvered herself so that she could look towards the back door of the cafeteria. 

The first pair that walked in was a blonde attached to Emmett's large arm. Jessica perked up and looked at the blonde as if she was a model in the flesh. 

"That's Rosalie. She's the resident Ice Queen and the idol of our lovely Jessica Stanley. The dude to her left is Emmett, her boyfriend." At the sound of Angela saying her name, the girl in question turned her attention over to her.

"Have you seen her Angela?!" Jessica said with bated breath. She made sure that the blonde walking to the table with her strapping young boyfriend didn’t hear her. Bella however, could see a slight smirk on Rosalie's pristine face. She had to admit, the girl did look like a Victoria Secret model. Rosalie seemed to hold herself with such grace and poise that would put other girls to shame. 

The next one to walk in was a blonde boy with a pained look on his face. He followed closely behind the former pair. 

"That's Jasper. He and Rosalie are twins and were adopted by Dr. Cullen and his wife when they were like eleven or something like that. Their birth parents died in some tragic accident and it left Jasper quite scarred." The boy looked like a coiled snake ready to spring on its prey, he was so tense, ready to flee into the forest. 

Rosalie looked behind her and saw her brother in a sense of distress. She uncurled her arm from Emmett's and held Jasper around the shoulders. The boy seemed to relax under her touch if only just a little. Emmett looked to Bella and smiled at her before joining his girlfriend and her twin. 

The doors swung open to reveal another boy with mussed brown hair. He had dark circles under his eyes like he hadn't slept in days. Lauren couldn’t keep her eyes off of him for a second. It looked like she was literally drooling at the sight of the boy. His golden eyes raked across the cafeteria and he smirked at the crowd that was in the large space. 

"That's Edward. I heard he got with some college girl." Mike grumbled from across the table with his arms crossed in jealousy. 

Two more blondes entered the fray just behind Edward and they were smiling and giggling about something or another. One was the long blonde haired girl that Bella met in History class, but the other one she didn’t recognize. Her hair was shorter but still long enough to be put in a ponytail.

Kate looked over to the Bella sitting at the table with her friends and leaned over to greet her. 

"Hey Bella."

Bella blushed hotly at the beautiful blonde that was speaking to her and only her. 

"H-Hey Kate." The tall blonde smiled and moved along with her sister over to the dubbed "Cullen Table". 

The boys and girls at Bella's table had their mouths open wide in surprise. There was no way Kate would talk to anyone like the new girl, hell she didn’t even talk to any of them. Jessica was one of the first to come out of their shock and pinched Bella right in the back of the arm. 

"Ow! What the heck Jessica?" Bella exclaimed trying to figure out what had come over the girl next to her. 

"Kate never talks to anyone! She's like the most popular girl in this school next to Rosalie and her sister Irina. She's a loner and loves to read books like all the time. Kate and Irina are cousins of the Cullen's who are here in a sort of exchange program. They're from some European country hence the reason why they have a super hot accent." Bella thought to herself that she didn’t hear an accent on Kate's voice when they were first introduced in History class, but then again, they barely said two words to each other after the bell rang. 

Speaking of History class, Bella was beginning to wonder where the last of the Cullen's were. As if on cue, Alice Cullen was the final family member to walk through those metal double doors. She had some school books in her arms and her bag hung from a strap on her shoulder. She looked like the picture of high school perfection. Bella's jaw dropped at the sight of Alice all but dancing to the Cullen table. 

She was so graceful that it was almost as if watching a ballet. Bella couldn’t stop looking at her and her bright green eyes followed the pixie Cullen over to the table where she sat with her siblings. As the girl began to sit in the chair, Jessica said. 

"That dark haired girl is-"

"Alice." Bella finished for the brunette, not really needed any other introduction other than that.   
___

Alice Cullen could hear her name being said across the cafeteria and looked up to see Bella's bright green eyes staring back at her. The color reminded her of a stone of turquoise. Being the bookworm that she was, the pixie had read that the bright blue-green shade had influences in ancient Egyptian, Persian and Native American history. The people in those countries believed it had personal protective qualities and therefore made jewelry out of the stuff. It also had been a sort of good luck charm once it was placed under the light of the full moon. 

The tiny vampire sighed and put her chin in her hand as she continued to stare into the eyes of her mate. Her telepathic brother could no doubt hear the thoughts running through her mind. She could literally feel his discomfort and giggled like a school girl. Alice could feel the toe of his shoe nudging her shin and that brought her attention away from the human. 

"Jump her right in the cafeteria why don’t you." Edward said quietly for everyone at the Cullen table to hear. 

Alice would've blushed at his statement if she could and turned her attention to the book in front of her. Romeo and Juliet seemed to be a fitting title for her situation. The story of star-crossed lovers destined to never be together because of their family squabbles. Vampires and humans tended not to mix well because of the enhanced strength and the blood-lust. If Bella had also been a vampire, things would be much more simpler. 

The tiny girl sighed once more as she read the words on the page in front of her. It had been the balcony scene between the two teens. Juliet was monologuing and it just made Alice picture herself on that terrace looking up at the stars talking about the person that made her heart skip a beat. She glanced up with her honey eyes searching of the turquoise ones once more. It was a magnetic effect and both girls could barely stand it. 

There was something to be said in the connection those two girls shared in that one instant that lasted what seemed like a lifetime. It was almost as if they were communicating with each other without speaking. Alice's thoughts were running rampant again, from harmless to passionate. 

Edward watched the two gaze into one another and read his sister's mind. His calm demeanor morphed into something else as he could only read Alice's thoughts. It was almost like a one sided conversation. He looked over to the human girl in confusion and wondered why he couldn’t read her as well. Edward watched as Alice's eyes changed color from their honey gold to a darker shade. Her unnecessary breathing became ragged and worry overcame him. 

The telepath got up from his seat and went over to his sister touching her shoulder. 

"Alice, you need to hunt." He said quietly. 

Alice blinked and regained control over her thoughts and emotions. She looked up into her brother's worried face and nodded before giving the human once last glance and headed out the two double doors. 

Once the two Cullen's were out of sight, they raced off into the tree line and hunted a couple of deer in the area. Alice didn’t need a vision to tell her that the rest of her siblings were right behind the pair. Rosalie came up on Alice's right side as they all ran through the forest. Kate was on her left and she was thankful for the pair of blondes. 

The vampire family hunted quickly and wound up going back to the tree line facing the back of the school. Class had already begun, thus the emptiness of the outside campus. Alice looked at the building, wondering what class her mate had now. Kate put her pale hand on her shoulder in comfort. The bleach blonde didn’t exactly know what the pixie was going through since she hadn't encountered her mate yet, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t comfort the poor girl. 

Alice's hand covered hers in no time and she squeezed the tips of her best friend's fingers.

"You know, I had a vision of her when I was changed; but nothing could've prepared me for the real thing." 

Everyone in her family knew about the vision of Bella that Alice had oh so long ago. They figured it was only a matter of time before the two met, but even with the pixie's foresight power, that first vision was the only one she had. Call it a love at first sight thing. Alice told everyone how her mate's eyes brought a sense of hope back to her, especially since her past had something to be desired. 

"I need to think." She stated simply. 

The small sentence gave everyone pause. Alice was the one that held the most self control out of all of her Cullen siblings. She trained herself more than twenty years feasting on countless animals from deer to mountain lion, but she still had the blood of her parents on her hands. Edward nodded and turned to the others. 

"Ok. We'll go about the rest of the day here at school as to not rouse too much suspicion." He knew that his tiny sister needed this time to think about the future and what the next course of action would be. He had to respect her decision and leave her to figure it all out unless she came to him for assistance. Then and only then would he meddle in Alice's affairs. 

Before anything else was said, Alice raced off further into the trees on her way home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to delve in a tiny bit of Alice's insecurity with her human mate as in she doesn't want it to be too much too fast for Bella.


	8. Taking a walk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: The play known as Romeo and Juliet belongs to the late and great William Shakespeare and not me. However I did borrow some of the lines from the star crossed lovers initial meeting from the play. I found it fitting for this chapter.

That same day, Bella Swan went about the rest of her day in confusion. She had no idea what had come over her when her eyes met with Alice's. There was no doubt in her mind that the Cullen's and the two cousins, Irina and Kate, had unusual color eyes. She found them unique and beautiful; like honey or amber. She could honestly feel herself drowning in Alice's eyes. She almost craved them to swallow her. 

Shaking her head, she knew she had to concentrate in this class. English, gosh she didn’t know whether she hated it or loved it. Bella hated public speaking and this teacher was making her read a passage aloud. Of course it had to be from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It was what the school was putting on production this year. Rolling her eyes, Bella read the paragraph on the page. 

_**O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!** _   
_**It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night** _   
_**Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear;** _   
_**Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!** _   
_**So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows,** _   
_**As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.** _   
_**The measure done, I'll watch her place of stand,** _   
_**And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.** _   
_**Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!** _   
_**For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.** _

Bella thought about this statement that Shakespeare was making. It was like she was being brought back to Verona itself in the halls of the Capulet household. It was indeed true that she had never seen anyone so beautiful as Alice ever before in her life. Her beauty was like that of Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships. Now she realized what Agamemnon had lost and what Paris had gained. 

Thankfully, the bell rang before anymore torture could be endured and she all but ran out of the classroom. Not watching where she was going, she bumped into something that seemed immoveable and she fell down on her butt. When her eyes returned to the front of her, Bella looked up to see the golden eyes of another Cullen. This wasn’t Alice, Emmett, or Kate however; this was someone new. It was Irina. Kate's sister and Alice's other cousin. 

The blonde held out her hand to fallen brunette and gave her a kind smile. 

"Hello Bella. Sorry for bumping into you."

The human's hand timidly grasped the pale one in front of her. Bella was shocked by the coldness of the skin under her touch and gasped. Irina apologized again for the inconvenience. 

"Sorry for that. I have poor blood circulation." Once the two released their hold, Irina rubbed her hands together as if to get the blood flowing. Unbeknownst to Bella, it was a trick that all vegetarian vampires learn once they a back amongst society.

A second later, another of the family joined the pair. It was Kate. The human blushed at the bleach blonde's presence. The girl was beautiful and had been nice to Bella ever since she sat down at the empty desk next to Alice. The pixie was never far from her mind but she was wondering where she went off to. Alice and Kate were best friends and seemed the type to do everything together, so why was one here while the other was nowhere to be seen? 

"How you doing Bella?" Kate said with a charming smile.

The one in question put a strand of hair behind her ear. A nervous habit she had since she was a child. 

"D-doing alright; just came from English class." Bella smiled timidly and brought up the book they had been reading. Kate and Irina both smiled inwardly and shook their heads at the coincidence. Alice had been reading the book for fun. 

The human looked around the two to see if Alice had been coming around a corner or what have you but as the seconds passed by, there was still no sign of the object of her affection. Mustering up the courage she possessed deep down, all the way down from her toes she asked. 

"Have you guys seen Alice?"

Kate smiled and walked right up into Bella's personal space. She put her arm up against the wall next to her, and with her favorite voice of seduction, the blonde spoke. 

"Sorry Bella, you see our resident pixie fell ill after class and had to go home early." This was a test. Kate made it up to see if the mate bond was really the thing that everyone was talking about. They talked about it as if it was the force that held everything together. A vampires world completely revolved around his or her mate. The blonde wanted to see if it worked on humans too. 

"Oh ok." Bella said calmly without any reaction to Kate's proximity or other flirting tactics. 

Kate listened to the humans heartbeat and was surprised to find that there was no elevation whatsoever. There didn’t seem to be any thing to indicate any sort of attraction coming from the human in front of her. She was glad for Alice's sake. This girl truly was her mate. 

Irina knew what her sister was doing and poked her in the side. 

"Come on now Kate. We gotta get to our next class before the bell rings." 

The blonde rolled her eyes but followed nonetheless. 

"Catch ya on the flipside Bells." Kate held up her hand as she walked away.

"That was cruel, ya know." Irina told her once they were out of earshot.

"Oh give me a break. I just wanted to see if the mate bond worked on humans." Luckily for both Alice and Bella it sure did indeed. 

_____

The rest of the day dragged on as far as Alice was concerned. She sat in her room staring at the popcorn ceiling wondering what Bella had been up to since she made her abrupt departure. She also had a vision of Kate pulling one of her tricks. At first Alice was livid, but as the vision went on, she saw that Bella wasn’t affected by her sister-in-law's charms. That meant that the mate bond worked. Bella felt it too. 

Alice jumped up from her bed with joy and cheered. Bella Marie Swan was indeed the one for her. She knew it when she had that initial vision but now she was even more sure. Of course Alice would give Kate a thorough tongue lashing for her antics, but she supposed it was all in good fun. 

After a few moments of joyous noise, Alice looked out her window and saw that it had begun to rain. Going down the stairs, she could hear Esme working on something in the kitchen. For some unknown reason, the woman did enjoy cooking. Of course no one in her family could eat the food, but sometimes the red head would pack it up and bring it to a shelter in Seattle. Alice was sure that her mother was a household name in every homeless shelter or soup kitchen in the country. 

Alice chuckled at the thought and grabbed her jacket from the coat rack but not her shoes from the mat. She loved the feeling of the wet grass beneath her feet. Sure their skin was already cold as ice, but it helped with keeping appearances just in case she had been seen. Esme heard the sound of clothing scraping against the metal of the coat rack and turned her attention to it. 

"Alice, my darling; are you going out?" The mother spoke. 

Esme was once pregnant when she was human but lost the baby shortly after it was born. She wanted so badly to be a mother and when she lost that baby, she fell into a deep depression. It was so deep that she tried to kill herself. That was when Carlisle and Esme met for the second time and that was when Carlisle changed her. 

"Yeah mom, I'm gonna go play in the rain for a minute." 

Esme raced to the front room to hug Alice and lovingly kiss her on the forehead. 

Alice reveled in moments like these. Since she had lost her own mother, it had been hard to open herself up to Esme. It took Alice a long time to call her anything other than Mrs. Cullen. The pixie always remembered her manners of course always referring to Carlisle as Dr. Cullen and Esme as Mrs. Cullen, but as time wore on, the armor around Alice's heart gave way. 

She hugged her mother tightly around the waist and gave one last squeeze before heading out the door. At first Alice simply walked through the forest; over roots and dead branches, but as the rain began to fall on the hood of her jacket, she started running. She saw many a puddle even on the forest floor and jumped in every one. 

Rain pattered on her coat and on her hair. Alice looked over to a nearby tree and smiled as she began to climb it. Each time she grabbed a branch, the higher her adrenaline would raise making her move even faster. Alice was indeed the smallest in the family so that made her the fastest, not even Edward could match her speed. She got up to the top branch in seconds and looked over the surrounding area. Her hair was soaked to her face and water droplets trickled down her skin. Feeling the rain made her feel alive. It made her feel something other than loneliness. Sure she had her family, her huge family that consisted of five mated pairs, but she wanted something else something deeper than the familiar bond she shared with the Cullen and Denali clan. 

Speaking of her family, she could hear the speeding cars that belonged to her siblings racing down the asphalt that lead to her home. Sure she could go and greet them and make sure that they had an eventful rest of their day at school, or she could wait for the sound of Bella's large red truck and sit in the rain. Alice held tighter to the tip top vertical branch of the tree she currently resided in and kept looking out at the horizon. 

It was a beautiful day in her opinion, the clouds hovering over the sun just enough to cover its light from her skin. Alice liked the sunny days too, but there in lay the problem of her vampire nature. She sat down on the bulky branch holding her weight, and bent her leg to place her arm upon her knee. The rain continued to fall and when she looked up at the sky, she closed her copper eyes and whispered.

"Hi Mom." 

The next few minutes were spent in silence as she waited for her mate to arrive home. The pixie listened for the lumbering engine of Bella's truck and was rewarded soon after. She smiled before taking off closer to the Swan residence. Running across tree branches was something of a challenge when she was first turned, but now after almost 90 years of being a vampire, speed and grace was almost as natural as breathing to her. Alice felt weightless as she hopped from branch to branch and when she looked at the ground she felt as though she was flying. 

When she reached the tree line nearest to her destination, Alice heard a startling thing. Bella was reciting words from Romeo and Juliet. She was reading the play for fun but it couldn’t be a coincidence that her mate was reading the same thing. 

_**If I profane with my unworthiest hand** _   
_**This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:** _   
_**My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand** _   
_**To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.** _

After the sound of her melodious voice, Alice heard footsteps as well. They crunched over the dead leaves and branches that littered the forest floor. Using her position in the tree, she climbed down a few branches and watched Bella wander through the tough terrain. Seconds passed and her mate spoke no more from the beloved ballad it only felt natural for Alice to give a quiet reply. 

She spoke so quietly so that her human wouldn’t hear her over the pattering rain. 

**_Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,_ **   
**_Which mannerly devotion shows in this;_ **   
**_For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,_ **   
**_And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss._ **

_____

Bella could've sworn that she heard a voice up in the tree above her but shook her head of that nonsense. No one could climb the trees surrounding her house, the branches were too high off of the ground. She thought once more about the small girl whose eyes were like fire. The brunette couldn’t get them out of her mind. The copper color would change into a lovely tiger's eye in a matter of moments. Either tiger's eye or a smooth caramel color that she wouldn’t mind drowning in. Her green eyes closed at the comforting feeling of the rain falling on her shoulders. 

This was something she didn’t get very often in Arizona. Bella liked the sun, yes but there was also a beauty in the rainy days as well. The cold rain stuck to her hair and skin. 

_**Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?** _

The words left her mouth without any provocation. A confused wrinkle fell over her brow, but she kept walking nonetheless. Bella looked down at the ground as to make sure there was nothing under foot that would make her trip. 

_**Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.** _

Bella giggled and shook her head once more. Surely her mind and ears were playing tricks on her, for she heard the hushed voice again. It may have had something to do with the long first day that she had but where was the fun in ending the conversation she was definitely having with an invisible partner. 

_**O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do;** _   
_**They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.** _

Her heart beat began to speed and her hands began to tremble as Bella spoke those words. The brunette remembered skipping ahead and reading this part during her study hall that day. She was definitely reading the part of Romeo and her imaginary friend was reading the part of Juliet. 

Alice for her part didn’t know what to make of the situation. There was no way Bella could hear her from this far up in the tree. So what was happening here? Her mate was reading off the lines placed for Romeo and she of Juliet. Too nervous to reveal herself to Bella in someway, she mouthed the words that were supposed to come next.

_**Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.** _

As if pulled by the gravitational force that was Bella, Alice climbed down a few more branches. Sure she was closer to the ground and there was a chance that her mate could definitely see her, there was something so pure about this moment. Alice wanted to freeze it in time forever. 

Bella felt heat all over her body as she walked the forest littered with dead leaves and branches. They crunched under her feet, but she paid them no mind. The next line she thought about Alice and her gracefulness. She remembered how the Cullen all but danced to the lunch table with her family. A sort of passion took over her then as she said the words in her mind. 

_**Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take.** _   
_**Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged.** _

This was Bella's favorite part of the 1968 version of the Romeo and Juliet movie. It was where the two star crossed lovers kissed for her first time. Bella closed her eyes as she imagined kissing Alice and her perfect lips. Surely it would be a sin to kiss something so fair and perfect, but the brunette couldn’t help but imagine it nonetheless.

Bella closed her eyes and spun while her head tilted up to the sky, letting the cold rain fall on her face. Her long dark hair was nestled under the hood she wore atop her head but a few ends escaped the protection and got wet from the weather. Bella could see nothing but ember colored eyes behind her own, imagining the darkened color of passion before her; but when she opened her green eyes up again, she actually saw them above her. 

The human focused on nothing but the dark caramel eyes perched above. It was like something out of a fairytale. 

Seconds seemed like hours before Alice shook herself out of her passion hazed stupor and realized that Bella had seen her. The vampire had no choice but to flee at the sight of the turquoise eyes barring in to her. Once again she raced across the branches to head back home to the Cullen house, but as she ran, she mentally berated herself for being caught by the human. It had never happened before, so why did she let herself be seen now? 

Back in the clearing, once Bella had blinked the honey eyes before her were gone. Any sign of life other than her own were nowhere to be found. So, she took one last glance around her and waked back to the house she shared with her father. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice returns home in need of an activity while Bella talks to mom and has a dream of a certain Pixie.

When Alice returned home that night, she sat in her room solemnly. She sat by her windowsill with her elbow on her knee and her chin on her closed fist. Eyes like charred lightning, Alice thought about everything that had happened that day. Her adventure in the forest that day after she returned home from a disastrous day at school was exactly like the vision she had all of those years ago. Right down to the clothing Bella had been wearing. She looked straight into the eyes of her mate and for a split second, Alice seemed suspended in time

Under her mate's unwavering gaze all reason and time seemed to vanish. It hit her like a ton of bricks that Bella wasn’t supposed to see her that far up in that tree. It was inhuman, being up that high, therefore it didn’t keep up the guise that the family as a whole were pursuing. If Alice still had a pulse, it would have been racing at that moment. 

She could hear the rest of the family both downstairs and outside in the yard. Eleazar was training with Kate and Irina out in the forest close to their house with Laurent watching over his blonde mate. Tanya and Edward were cuddling on the couch, basking in each other's presence. Emmett was challenging Jasper to a video game that Alice absolutely had no interest in and Rosalie was watching with feigned interest holding a fashion catalogue in her hands. Alice could see each person in her blended family and they were so happy and so vibrant at the very moment. 

When Alice joined the Cullen coven, it had been Edward who was the broody one of the group; but as the years wore on and the brunette found his mate, he became more and more relaxed with each passing day. Tanya was good for him, Alice mused. She could see all of the subtle changes that overcame Edward in his short courtship with the blonde and it made her so happy. 

However, when it came to the pixie's own happiness, all answers eluded her. Today was the perfect example. When it came down to it, Alice was clueless on how to romance a woman. She wiped her face with her hand and brought it up again to smooth her hair back. She was surprised that it was still slightly damp from the rain that afternoon. 

"Kumboh, now would be a great time for your subtle wisdom." Alice thought of her maker in times like these. She didn’t want to burden her family with her insecurities when they were all so bloody happy. Alice thought about him often and missed him every day. Back during her days in the asylum he would always visit her and she became fond of his companionship. 

Alice brought her arms around her shins and rested her head on her knees. Looking around the room for anything to distract her, she found her quarry underneath her bed. It was a leather case with a leather bound handle facing her. 

'It has been a while.' The vampire thought to herself. Rising from her spot at the windowsill, she knelt down and retrieved the familiar object. Turning it revealed two golden buckles latched together. She popped them open quickly and raised the cover to reveal her precious instrument. A shiny yet used violin met her golden eyes and Alice smiled at the sight of her old friend. 

Over the 90 years of being a vampire, Alice took up a few hobbies; writing, drawing, designing (really designing anything that came to mind), reading, learning different languages, those were all only a few things she had taken up. The violin and some other string instruments was her favorite hobby in the world. Music was so beautiful to her, so relaxing. Each note sent a calmness over Alice that not even Jasper could rival. 

Alice grasped the neck of the instrument and tuned it in mere seconds and took the bow from its holder in the lid. Bringing the bow over the finely tuned strings brought her a comfort that she couldn’t compare to anything else. Each arm movement was fluid and poised, her posture perfect. Alice often played when her thoughts were turned to the more darker side of herself. The pixie girl was generally a happy person, but thinking of her past just brought back so much heartache and pain. The vacant look in her mothers' eyes as she laid there dead in her arms, the evil chuckle of her father right before she drank his blood, the fact that her sister Cynthia had now been an orphan. It was all because of Alice. 

But when she played her music, all of the bad thoughts and feelings drifted away. She wrote many songs with the help of her beloved instrument. When she would envision Bella from her one vision all of those years ago, Alice played the most romantic and loving notes she had ever heard in her lifetime. It was hard for the pixie because Bella just snuck up on her that day she had arrived in their history class. Her gift of foresight was so damned fickle half of the time; so unreliable. 

Sure, Alice trained with both Carlisle and Eleazar in past years, but there had still been blind spots in the little seers ability. There were even beings that clouded her vision all together; beasts that were close neighbors of theirs in fact. It was quite frustrating. 

As she played the violin, Alice could sense the presence of her brother, Edward. Her song ended a mere seconds after she heard him lean against the doorframe. She placed it on her bed and sat down beside it with her hands in her hair. The feeling of frustration clouded over her entire being. Even though Edward couldn’t read emotions like Jasper could, still read the thoughts of his little sister and kneeled in front of her. 

The two had been close ever since Alice became part of the family. It was comforting to her to have a big brother whom she could tell everything to without uttering a single word. 

"You finally saw her today." Edward spoke smoothly. It was a simple statement that held so much weight. Alice felt so tense and was coiled like a snake ready to strike. So the telepath spoke calmly and non-judgmental. Edward gave her a few seconds to breathe and collect her thoughts. 

'I don’t know what to do.' 

Edward squeezed her knee, looked at her and smiled his signature crooked smile. 

"You just have to do what you think is right Ali."

"But I still don’t know what that is. When we met eye's today, I didn’t feel hunger; at least not the hunger associated with feeding." If Alice could blush she would be as red as an apple right now. Edward chuckled and massaged the back of his neck. He remembered reading his sisters thoughts that day at lunch and boy oh boy he really wished he didn’t. 

"I remember." He said with certainty. 

Sure Alice Cullen wasn’t about to drink the blood of a human ever again, but it didn’t occur to the young vampire that there were other strong sensations when it came to mating. She knew she needed to learn control over her more basic instincts. Alice abruptly got up from the foot of her bed and walked with purpose to her father's office. Edward got up from his kneeling position and put his hands in his pockets before walking back downstairs into the waiting arms of his wife. 

Knocking first, she entered when given access. Alice looked to the blonde man and saw that he had his head buried over his notes on a patient from the hospital he was currently working at. She walked in cautiously and sat down in the plush red leather chair placed in front of Carlisle's desk. The patriarch looked up from his notes as soon as Alice seated herself. He steepled his fingers and asked his youngest.

"What's wrong, Alice?" 

The tiny seer explained what had happened that day in the cafeteria and also in the forest after she had left school. There was no doubt in Carlisle's mind that Bella Swan was indeed Alice's mate. It thrilled the doctor to realize that she had finally found the mate she had been searching for all of these years but there was a cloud of distress hanging over the tiny girl's shoulders. While it was true that vampire/human mates were rare, it did indeed happen. 

He remembered the story that his friend Aro had told him many years ago of when he met Sulpicia. The regal brunette was also a human when the two met. It was hard for Aro to keep such a secret from his love but he didn’t have much choice. It was their way. But when the royal went to war with the Romanian Coven, it was shortly after the major battle that Aro raced back to his human bride. Sulpicia threw herself off of a cliff believing the man to be a casualty, but Aro reached her just in time and changed her into one of them; he changed her into a vampire that day and then there were finally no secrets between them. There was nothing they didn’t share. 

After revealing this to Alice, Carlisle thought for a long time about what the Cullen's should do to help her gain control of her wants and needs. It wasn’t going to be an easy task, that much was certain, but he figured a week at most would be enough for Alice to at least return to school. The blonde father would make the necessary arrangements the next day once the principal arrived, but for now Alice needed to hunt. Hopefully then, Alice would be more susceptible to the lessons. 

"Go hunt, my dear. Then we will begin." Alice hugged Carlisle tightly around the waist and headed out the front door. 

________________________________________________________________________________

At the Swan residence, Bella was trying to wrap her head around everything she felt and saw today. 

The Cullen's were a force to be reckoned with for sure. They were such a large family and Angela explained to her that the parents of the children, Mr. and Mrs. Cullen were kind and generous people. The father was a doctor over at the major hospital in town and the mother was a housekeeper. She also explained that all of the children were adopted. Bella found it strange because they each had similar features. All of them had golden eyes and pale complexions. The only certainty that she had about the group was that Rosalie and Jasper were indeed twins. Kate and Irina too. 

Bella rolled each observation from earlier in school in her mind. She couldn’t concentrate most of the night while she was cooking dinner and she almost burned herself on the stove. Charlie seemed to worry about her quite a bit until after the meal when she went up to do her homework and get ready for bed. 

While sitting at her desk, Bella did her math homework with ease. Then after that was done, she turned her attention to her English assignment. It wasn’t due until the end of the month but she at least wanted to think about anything else other than the Cullen's. Specifically Alice Cullen. Her bronze colored eyes bore into her own like they were trying to see into her very soul. They began to change color after a while, Bella had noticed. She watched as the dark honey color faded into a deep onyx. 

It was strange, but the feeling that overwhelmed her in that moment was even stranger. Bella had never really been attracted to anyone in her teenage years, sure a tiny crush on a teacher here and there but who didn’t go through that. The feeling of Alice Cullen's eyes meeting her own was a powerful feeling of warmth and all throughout her body a tingling sensation overcame her. She took in Alice's entire face in that moment. From the charcoal colored eyes, to her parted lips, and then finally her heaving chest. It looked as if Alice was gasping for breath as the two stared at each other. 

Bella knew that the entire cafeteria vanished the moment their eyes locked; sea green meeting dark black, but what she didn’t realize was how much time had passed. Angela had to almost shake her out of her little world that she shared with the spiky haired brunette. She regained her senses sure, but when she looked over at the Cullen table a moment later, the entire family had left the room. 

The teen instantly missed the feeling of warmth in her heart. She missed the tingling sensation in her body. Was this what it was like to actually be attracted to someone? Bella thought about it all the way up until the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. 

She once again turned her thoughts to the paper in front of her. It read what her assignment should be about. The Folklore of Forks. Bella thought about how she should go about this assignment. She was sure that there were a ton of legends surrounding this place. It was an old town surrounded in mystery. So Bella promised herself to talk to her friend Jake over the coming weeks and find out more information. 

Her cell phone rang and the loud shrill sound made her jump in her sear. Bella moved quickly to answer it, knowing it was her mother Renee. Once the device was in her hand, she plopped on the bed with a huff and spoke into the receiver. 

"Hey Mom." Bella spoke first.

Renee was overjoyed to hear her daughter's voice and all but squealed in her ear. Bella took the phone away from her ear to save her hearing. 

"Bella! Oh my God, I'm so happy to hear your voice!" The girl could hear that her mother was overcome with emotion on the other end of the line. 

"I'm happy to hear yours too mom. How's Phil?" 

At that, the two women talked about pretty much anything. Renee asked how school went the first day and Bella asked how her mother was doing with all of the constant moving around. Renee loved this life. She loved being on the move; not staying in one place for too long. Her mother told her that Phil was playing like a champ when it came to baseball. She even almost shared a little too much information about their love life and that's when Bella almost lost it. 

"So, tell me Bella. Has anyone caught your eye at school? Any cute girl's I should know about?" 

Over the years, there were no secrets between mother and daughter. Bella wasn’t a very good hider of secrets so she told Renee everything. When she came out to her mother, there was no ill feelings toward her newly found sexuality and everything turned out fine. Sure there was always the constant worry about not being able to give her mother any grandchildren in the future, but there were ways to go around that now a days. 

Bella blushed at the question her mother had asked, thinking about the only girl that drew her eye in Forks High. She tried to play it off as no big deal but as she talked about the small Cullen, Bella was sure that her mother could tell that she did indeed have a crush. 

"Well, it sounds like you have your hands full baby girl." Renee chuckled on the other end. The two talked more about school and Bella's new found friendships, so much in fact that when Bella looked at the bedside clock, the time read 11:30. The girl's face turned a shade of white that closely resembled Alice's. 

"I've gotta go Momma." The teen said with a yawn. So goodbyes were said and Bella then cuddled up with her pillow, falling right asleep. 

The scene in the forest played out once again in her dreams. Bella loved walking out in the rain. It was a cool, comforting sensation that she always enjoyed. The brunette walked in her raincoat and her shoes from earlier, not caring that they would probably get ruined by the elements. Bella closes her eyes as she walks taking in the sounds and even the smells of the forest around her. 

The cool air surrounds her entire being as she steps over the upturned roots. In a clearing, Bella feels a sense of peace and she closes her eyes relaxing as the light sprinkle of rain patters down on her coat. She breathes in through her nose and out through her mouth and her breath is a foggy vapor. Just then, Bella feels a presence behind her. She doesn’t turn around, she doesn’t run, she just stands there still as a board. 

A few seconds later, Bella feels a breath in her ear. Its heavy, yet light at the same time; like they don’t need to breathe in the first place. Curious, the teen begins to puts some space between her and the presence behind her. She walks a couple of paces to a group of trees across from her. The presence doesn’t follow; it only stays rooted to the spot. Bella turns moments later after she places her feet together in their new position. Fog consumes her sight. It blocks her from the being she wants to see. 

All Bella sees is a shadow. It takes no shape, makes no sound, except for the breathing she heard before. Bella wants to reach through the cloud for answers, but its thick and stalls her arms progress little by little. The shadow disappears, she can't see the dark figure anymore. Without any answers at all, the girl begins to panic. She didn’t see a face or hear a single word; who was this person Bella wonders. She begins to feel like this is a nightmare, that this figure is a monster haunting her. 

But then all of a sudden, she feels two arms wrap around her waist from behind. It's a comforting feeling. Comforting in a way that she had never felt before. Bella in that moment, felt protected, felt loved. She relaxes into the arms holding her. Then she feels a forehead place itself in between her shoulder blades. 

The brunette then pulls her outstretched arm back and tentatively places it on the one on her quivering stomach. When she touches the skin, its ice cold. The presence behind her fully expects Bella to pull her hand away but the warm skin meets cold as the teen holds the hand beneath hers. 

The two are there for what seems like hours before Bella asks in a soft, shallow voice.

"Who are you?" 

There is no answer. Only a shivering kiss on her neck. The softness of the lips on her skin made Bella's eyes flutter closed. It was a light touch, but it held a weight that made Bella want more. The girl moaned in response to the kiss and blushed a brilliant red. 

"Bella." The presence finally spoke and it shocked the girl to her core. Shocked her so much that Bella turned sharply in the arms surrounding her. The action was so fast and so sudden that she fell backward. She tried reaching up, waiting for the cold hand to catch her, but she kept falling nonetheless. 

The falling sensation felt so real that it shook Bella out of her deep sleep. She yelps out loud as she feels herself landing on the soft bed beneath her. Bella shoots up into a sitting position and looks around her bedroom frantically; her brown hair forming a curtain in front of her eyes. 

She takes fast, heavy breaths as she takes in her surroundings. Finally realizing that its her room once more, Bella places her face in her hands and rubs it. The skin is warm and clammy to the touch. She tries to make sense of the dream that is now at the forefront of her mind, but she feels the small details leaving her little by little. The one thing that stays with her however, the one thing from that dream that she will never forget, was the voice. The voice that said her name. The teen never heard her name sound like that before, not with such reverence. It shook her to the very core of her being. 

Bella knew the voice, that much was certain. The voice from her dream was one she heard earlier that day. Once in her history class, and next in the forest. It was none other than the voice of one Alice Cullen. The realization came over her quickly but even more questions emerged in its wake. Why had the girl been so cold? Why was the fog covering her? How did she move so fast behind her? What was the deal with Alice Cullen? Bella had none of those answers, but she was damned good and sure of one thing. She felt something for the tiny Cullen, something that she had never felt before.

Bella ran her hand through her long brown hair to get it out of her eyes and fell back on her bed with a huff. One question did remain though. What the hell was she going to do tomorrow?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know from the last chapter that I included a lot of aspects from the play Romeo and Juliet, I'm just not positive on how to incorporate it in the further chapters. if you guys have any ideas send me a message.


	10. Chapter 10

For the next week, Alice trained her most basic vampiric instincts. Carlisle got pouches of blood from the hospital he worked at and tested her with each one. None of the hemoglobin filled liquid triggered her thirst. At first Alice had been confused, but then she remembered all of the years training herself to only feed on animal blood. The two vampires would talk about Alice's concerns when it came to Bella Swan. She had explained that she saw the girl in a vision when she had been turned. 

She explained to her father about the feeling of absolution when she saw those bright green eyes staring right back at her. Alice felt so at peace looking into Bella's eyes, she felt as if nothing could touch her. The pixie knew it was impossible but she could've sworn that she felt her heart skip a beat at school seeing Bella for the first time. 

Carlisle thought about Alice's words often and came to the conclusion that Bella was indeed her mate. The blonde elder hardly ever heard of a vampire and a human mating before but he knew for a fact that it did happen. Aro and Sulpicia's story was truth enough. He told Alice to meditate on her thoughts while he came up with a plan on how to ease her suffering. Surely Alice couldn’t go back to the school without some semblance of control. 

After a while, Carlisle came up with a solution; one that seemed relatively simple. He walked over to Alice's bedroom door and knocked ever slightly. It opened in an instant revealing Alice's troubled face. 

His enthusiastic smile quickly turned into a frown as he took in his daughters distress. Carlisle wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged Alice tightly. He knew that someday the little seer would find her mate, but the fact that it caused so much strife for his little one made him want to cry. Father and daughter hugged for a while before Alice took a deep breath and looked Carlisle in the eyes. 

"I have a plan for your little dilemma." The blonde said with confidence. 

That night Alice, Kate, Jasper and Tanya went out hunting around the tree line that separated Bella's house from the forest. The brunette was worried at first, for she felt hunger of two kinds. The hunger in which to signify a need for food and the hunger in that of a sexual nature. Jasper was doing the best he could trying to calm his sister, but it was proving difficult. Kate had gone for both moral support and because of the fact that she could send a shock through Alice's system that would weaken her. 

Thankfully Alice's past in the asylum didn’t put a hinderance on their friendship and the pixie trusted the young blonde with all of her being. The group hunted the small herd of deer in the area and for a moment wondered if it was really a wise decision to be so near to the human. The darkness hid their forms from any prying eyes and the trees did their job as cover as well. 

When she was done feeding on a large buck, Alice wiped her lips and went over to a small clearing. She climbed the trees that were near and sat on a thick branch. One that was sturdy enough to hold her weight. The branch stretched outward toward the front of Bella's house. Alice could even see the lights that were on. She leaned back against the support trunk and put up a knee. She rested her wrist there and thought about what her mate might be doing now. 

Was she eating dinner? Taking a shower? Getting ready for a much needed rest for the day tomorrow? Alice couldn’t tell. Jasper and the others followed her path up into the branches. Jasper stood on the one below her and Tanya and Kate sat on the one beside her. 

"She's feeling troubled." Jasper finally spoke up, his arms crossed on his chest. "Bella is wondering where you are but she doesn’t want to intrude on our privacy so she's stayed away." 

Shocked, Alice asked. "You picked up all of that from reading her emotions?" 

A crooked smile warped the empath's lips. "Empathy is almost as good as reading minds. Maybe even better." He didn’t look away from the house that kept his sisters mate inside. "Throughout this whole week, Bella has been very confused as to why you're not at school and whenever she doesn’t see you in the cafeteria, she feels very sad. To some people she keeps to herself, but in reality she's a very expressive person." Jasper's voice cracks as he tells Alice of her mate's emotions. Thankfully it was Wednesday and there were only a few more days before the new week. 

Alice got up from her position and ran across the branches to the trees in view of Bella's bedroom. She had remembered where it was from the first night she saw her. The others followed closely behind of that she was certain. Alice could see Bella's ceiling fan light flick on and her breath caught in her throat. 

The poor human looked like she hadn't slept properly in days. The dark rings under her eyes were evident enough. Bella drug her feet across the wooden floor that lead to her bed and she plopped right down in it. Her face smothered into the pillow, she let out a long breath and turned on her side. Alice could hear the sound of Bella breathing even though the window was firmly closed. It was deep and soothing. The rhythm of her heartbeat was like a siren song to her and it lulled the vampire into an almost drunken state. 

Alice knew that she had to keep her training up until she was ready enough to go back to school, but the more she was away from Bella, the more her heart began to break. The vampire put a hand up to her chest and found that it was still. The once human heartbeat slowed to a stop the moment she was turned into a vampire and over the years she did find reason to keep going, but now that she found her mate; now she found her absolute reason for existing, she now had the strength to live her best immortal life. 

Alice wrapped one arm around the wide support trunk of the new branch she was standing on and kept the other hand where it was on her chest. She smiled down at her vacant chest cavity and back up again at the light in the window. 

"Let's go home." She spoke to her siblings and the four vanished from the area. 

_____________________________________________________

Bella Swan yawned as she walked from her truck and in through the school doors the following Monday. She walked almost zombie-like to the cafeteria where they were serving breakfast to the kids who were early arrivals. Getting her tray, she picked up a bowl of cereal, a few pancakes, and an apple. Her grip wasn’t very firm on the fruit and it fell from her hand. She gasped and was about to groan at the loss of part of her breakfast, but a beautifully booted foot kicked it back up again and the apple landed in the two palms of none other than Alice Cullen. 

The pale girl cradled the wayward fruit in her hands and offered it back to Bella as if she was giving her a gift. Alice smiled fully at Bella's awestruck face and placed the apple back on the human's tray. 

"Hi Bella." The Cullen said cheerfully before heading over to the table that housed her siblings. 

Bella watched as she all but danced over to the group and sat down between Jasper and Edward. Her eyes never left the tiny Cullen and when she sat down at her spot next to Angela, her friend had to almost pinch her to get her attention. Bella had to be dreaming. Alice Cullen, the girl of her dreams (in quite a literal sense) talked to her. She had saved her apple from falling on the floor. Her copper eyes looked into her and seemed to read her soul. 

Bella looked over to the Cullen table and stared at the pixie once again and found it surprising that she didn’t look away when she had been caught by the honey colored ones. She felt a sharp pain in the back of her arm and said ouch when she realized that she had indeed been pinched by Jessica. 

"Ow! What the heck, Jess?!"

The brunette cheerleader smirked and nodded her head over to the Cullen table. 

"Just letting you know to keep your eyeballs in your head." 

The other kids at her table chuckled while Bella blushed a deep red. Taking one last look over toward Alice, she saw the bright copper eyes darken ever so slightly. She turned back to the food on her tray moments later and ate with the rest of her friends. 

After breakfast, Bella made her way to her locker to grab the books she needed for her next class. Putting in the combination, she opened the door and looked in the metal cavern. Finding the book she was looking for Bella also peeked at the worn book binding of her Romeo and Juliet story. Just as she was remembering the moment in the forest, the warning bell rang. Bella shut the locker door and jumped in surprise when she saw Alice Cullen next to her with a sweet smile plastered on her face. 

The teen looked behind herself to make sure there wasn’t anyone behind her. There was no way that Alice would be next to her right now. Her heartbeat sped up looking at the small Cullen and a blush marred her features. 

Alice swallowed deeply and maintained her composure as she spoke. 

"Hey Bella." Her sing-song voice echoed in Bella's ears and it was like the sweetest thing she had ever heard. 

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she tried to reply. 

"H-hi Alice." She stuttered at first, but then she found her voice. "I'm glad you're feeling better." 

The story going around was that Alice had suffered from debilitating migraines and that’s why she was out for the past week. The pixie felt horrible from being away from her mate for so long but she really wanted to gain some control over herself. 

"Thanks Bella. That's really sweet of you." Alice put a hand on the arm Bella was using to hold her books. Thankfully it was a long sleeve shirt she was wearing to avoid the coldness of her skin. "I know we got off on the wrong foot your first week here, but I'm really hoping we can be good friends." 

Bella smiled and it made the vampires chest tighten. Even though her heart had been silent for many years, this girl in front of her made her feel something again. It was good to feel like this. She missed it since her days as a human. 

"I'd like that a lot Alice." Once again, a strand of hair fell in front of the green eyes looking at her and before Bella herself could move it away, Alice herself reached up and moved it behind her ear. It had honestly been a reflex, but it was enough for the human to feel her cold skin. Bella twitched slightly at the chill but otherwise didn’t show any sign of moving away. 

"I'm sorry." Alice said bringing her hand down to her side. "I have poor blood circulation." Bella suddenly remembered the words that fell from Alice's cousin Irina's lips the week prior. 

"It's really okay Alice. I don’t mind it." The brunette said as she began to walk away with her books. "I'll see you later." She waved at the small girl and turned away fully. 

"Wait!" Alice called out. She jogged at a human pace to catch up to the girl. 

"How about I walk with you to class? We can talk on the way there." Bella smiled and nodded as Alice weaved her arm through hers. The pair drew many curious looks as they walked and talked. It seemed as if the new girl was the only one that Alice Cullen decided to associate herself with. 

"You don’t talk with the other kids very much, do you?" Bella asked, curious about the other student body's reaction.

Alice giggled before replying. 

"No. They're not as interesting as you." 

The two girls walked to their history class talking about how Bella came to live there and about how big Alice's family actually was. The human seemed to hang on Alice's every word as her musical voice filtered through her ears. The smaller of the two talked about how loving her adoptive parents were to each of her siblings and how her aunt and uncle lived on the property with them as well. Irina, Kate, and Edward's girlfriend Tanya were like her sisters. 

Bella talked about how she missed her mom and how outgoing Renee had been in the past. She also told Alice how many times she moved around in her short life. Bella was an only child but that didn’t necessarily mean that she was a lonely person. The brunette liked to keep to herself and talked about how she loved reading books about fantasy worlds. Alice chuckled silently and found it ironic that Bella enjoyed that genre. 

When the two reached the door of the class room, Alice opened the door for Bella and let her go in first. The pixie gave a slight bow and Bella laughed. 

"My, what a gentle-woman you are." Then she walked in the classroom to her seat. 

_'Oh Bella, you have no idea.'_ Alice thought as she took her place at the desk beside her mate. 

Kate filed in just after the last bell rung and smiled at the two who seemed to be the talk of the entire school.

"The two of you are causing quite a stir." The blonde stated as a matter of fact. 

Alice just turned her nose to the air and said. 

"If the rest of the student body were as interesting as my new friend, they wouldn’t have anything to worry about." Alice looked over at Bella with the blush coloring her cheeks and gave a coy wink. The human in question shrunk down in her seat and became an even deeper shade of red. 


	11. Authors note

I'm really looking for some input in my next chapter. I've been wanting to incorporate Jake's sisters somehow it the story since in the original canon they're almost non-existent. So if anyone has any ideas on how to do that then please send me a message. I would love to hear any input or advice on the subject :) <3.


	12. 'The Incident'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is honestly a little short for me but, with what I wanted to do with it, it would've been too long. So as you might expect from the title, here's one of the pivotal moment's in the entire saga.

Alice and Bella's friendship progressed as one might expect. They exchanged phone numbers after school that day and the former promised to text Bella as soon as she got home with her family. Irina and Kate took to the brunette fairly well considering that they had already had contact with her before. At lunch the following day Alice took Bella's hand and dragged her over to the infamous Cullen table. The other students were still in shock as one of the most beautiful girls in school seemed to be attached to the new girl's hip. 

Alice brought her friend over to her family's table and began introductions. Of course Emmett was all smiles and 'hey Bella's'. Rosalie was a different story as she gave a curt nod. The boys, Edward and Jasper held out their hands for a courteous handshake but it didn’t go any further than that. The pixie then proceeded to tell the group that she was going to be eating lunch with her friends today and went back over to Bella's table. 

Mike almost choked on his own spit as he took in the sight of the new addition. Jessica groaned silently and Angela and Eric were surprised, but nice to the beautiful Cullen. Alice cheerfully greeted the small group of friends and sat down right next to Bella. 

She told them about how she was looking forward to being friends with all of them and began small talk. Bella couldn’t believe she was this close to Alice. Sure the small girl wanted to be her friend and she was thankful for that, but there were a few times that the mere sound of her voice brought Bella back to the dream she had a couple of weeks ago. Why was Alice in her dream to begin with? Why did her eyes always change color? 

It was a couple weeks of just nothing but talking and laughing and enjoying one another's company. Bella was so glad to have this time with Alice because it gave her a new perspective on her friend. She was kind and gentle and ready to offer advice on any situation. Alice gave some dating advice to Eric who really wanted to ask Angela to the upcoming spring formal the school was having. Bella didn’t really hear the words she was saying but that was because she was too busy staring at the girl. The teen was taking in her friends almost ethereal beauty and it was sometimes overwhelming to say the least. 

It was on Friday a couple weeks after Alice became friends with Bella and her group when something unexpected happened.

Bella was going to her truck ready to go home for the day when she set her backpack on the hood to look for her keys. It was still cold and icy out since it was the end of January. She had to be super careful while she walked and she was really grateful for the ice tires that Charlie put on. Ice tires being a set of chains wrapped around the rubber so they would skid or slip. Alice and Bella had already said their goodbyes and the former went to her brother Edward's Volvo for the trip home. 

The brunette took a look over her shoulder for one last look at Alice and the pixie smiled her signature mega-watt smile. Bella waved in response and turned her attention back to finding her keys. With her headphones in her ears, she found the task miserably daunting for a moment, but once she found them she held them up in victory. 

What Bella didn’t notice however was the sound of screeching tires gliding along the tarmac. Tyler Crowley's van wasn’t as lucky as Bella's truck when it came to certain safety upgrades. The boy pumped on his brakes but couldn’t stop. A bunch of students called out to the boy to pull his emergency brake, but with his heartbeat ringing in his ears it was hard to hear anyone. Dread filled his chest as he came up on Bella and her beat up Chevy truck. 

Bella turned around and was ready to go to the driver side of the vehicle when she saw Tyler's frightened face. She knew there was no way he could stop the van and her eyes widened as her fate seemed sealed. Tears welled in her bright green eyes and her knees began to shake.

But after what seemed like a century, Bella screwed her eyes shut and waited for the pain that would come next. Her knees buckled and she fell against the side of her truck. What came next wasn’t pain from the van hitting her in her upper body, but a comforting arm around her back. It held her up as her body seemed to go limp and kept her from the icy ground. A second later, she felt that arm pull her into a hard yet slightly soft torso. 

Bella forgot how to breathe as she opened her eyes and saw a bright Tiger's eye staring back at her. 

For a moment neither one dared to utter a single word as it was Alice Cullen holding Bella Swan so protectively, so securely. The frightened teen looked over her friends shoulder and found the palm of Alice's hand firmly in the side of the offending vehicle. Her lips quivered as she took in the sight and wondered how her friend could do something like that. She was no where near Bella when the van came racing down the tarmac. And she was such a tiny thing. How could Alice Cullen stop a van that weighed a 100 times her weight. Bella's bright green eyes flickered from Alice's to the hand punched in the metal paneling of Tyler's van. 

"A-Alice?" Bella's voice trembled as she spoke. 

It seemed to brake whatever trance Alice had been in and the pixie looked at Bella with the same fear the human had in her eyes. She looked all around herself and around her mate making sure that no harm came to the girl. 

"I-I'm sorry. I can't." Alice quivered as she put Bella down on the ground gently and raced off into the distance. 

Time passed slowly as the emergency vehicles made their way toward the scene. Tyler got a cut on his forehead and a possible concussion when his head hit the steering wheel. The first responders did whatever they could to keep the boy awake. They asked him basic questions, like what his name was and where he was, and he answered them all correctly, but when he passed by Bella, he reached out for the girl and grasped her forearm. 

"Bella, I'm so sorry. I couldn’t stop. I tried; I really did." Tears sprung to his eyes as he realized what he almost did to his friend. His voice broke as he uttered the words over and over again. Bella took a hold of the boy's hand and looked at him with understanding. 

"I know Tyler. It's ok." She said as Charlie pulled up in his police cruiser. The teen turned attention to her father as the EMT's put Tyler in the ambulance. 

"Bella?! Oh my God, are you alright?!" He asked checking his daughter over for any signs of injury. 

"Dad, dad, I'm fine." Bella stated really wondering if that was the truth. 

Charlie took Bella over to the car he came in and held her the whole way there. He opened the passenger side door and let her sit down. This was the first time she really looked at her hands. They were trembling from both the shock and the cold. She clenched her fists and looked at her father who was kneeling in front of her with a few tears running down his face. 

"Oh Bells, when I first got the call from the other's I thought the worst." He leaned forward and took Bella into his arms. The father and daughter pair hugged for minutes before separating and then Charlie said that he would take her to the hospital to get checked out. The ambulance was already on its way out of the parking lot when he said this so there was no way around for Bella. She nodded and sat back in the bucket seat of Charlie's cruiser and put her seatbelt on. 

When the two drove off, Bella took a look to her truck and thought about how close her life had come to an end. But Alice had saved her. Then she looked to the forest. Alice didn’t think that she noticed the direction she ran, but that was far from the truth. Bella put her elbow on the door handle and her chin on her knuckles. 

'What the Hell is happening?" She thought on the ride to the hospital. 

With the sirens going, it didn’t take long to arrive at all. Charlie explained to the nurse at the front desk that his daughter had been in an accident and needed to get checked out right away. The woman paged a Dr. Carlisle Cullen to the examination room and Charlie deflated. 

'Dr. Cullen; as in Alice's father?' Alice had explained to her before that her adopted father was a doctor at the hospital here in Forks; one of the best. She also explained that the man was a saint and helped everyone in need. He sometimes took on double shifts and didn’t see his kids for days at a time. 

Another nurse in scrubs led the two to an examination table. Bella didn’t need to change into anything but she still sat on the tall bench and waited for the infamous doctor. Moments later, a man with bright blonde hair and copper eyes entered the room. All eyes were on him as he walked right up to Bella and Charlie. 

"It's good to see you Charlie." The man with the name Dr. Cullen on his lab coat held out his hand in greeting. Her father took it with gusto and shook his hand greedily. 

"Carlisle I'm so glad you're here." Charlie held the blonde's hand in both of his as he turned his attention to Bella. 

"You must be Bella." Dr. Cullen said to the blushing teen. The man was indeed handsome and there were some resemblances between him and his children. Were they really all adopted? They all had the same eyes, pale skin and slightly dark circles under their eyes. 

After a moment of staring, Charlie nudged her. Bella suddenly remembered where she was and who she was speaking with. She smiled politely and gave his hand a shake as well.

The police chief's cell phone rung and he stepped away for a moment. 

"Hey Billy-" Was all she heard before turning her whole attention to the doctor. 

"Is Tyler okay, sir?" Bella asked curiously.

The doctor smiled and began the essential tests. He put his stethoscope to his ears and placed the metal to the left side of Bella's chest. He listened to her heartbeat for a moment before moving on to the blood pressure test. 

"He's doing just fine Bella; and please, call me Carlisle. You are the topic of many a discussion in my household after all." It was a fact that all of his children and the two Denali girls that attended the school were quite taken with the human. Even Rosalie although she'd never admit it. 

Bella's eyes widened at his words and felt the pressure cuff tighten around her bicep. 

"110 over 70. Normal blood pressure. Surprising after what you've just been through." Carlisle said as he unwrapped the cuff. 

"I guess I calmed down on the ride here." Bella stated as the doctor got the small pen light to shine in her eyes to check for any signs of dilation. 

Then came the test for her reflexes. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. After the initial examination was done, the door swung open and revealed a disheveled pair of teenage girls. They were out of breath and exhausted. A better look at the two gave Bella the answer as to who they were. 

Angela Webber and Jessica Stanley raced through the hospital until they found where their friend was being examined by Dr. Cullen. Bella was surprised to see the two but grateful that they came by to see her. It showed the teen that they were indeed true friends. A few other heavy breaths were taken by Angela and then she regained her composure. She leaned down against her knees and looked up to see her green eyed friend smiling down at her. 

"Bella, are you okay?" 

Jessica followed suit immediately after and said. 

"We raced over here as soon as you left. We couldn’t get to you before your dad picked you up." The cheerleader put a hand to her chest in exhaustion and looked around the sterilized room. 

She saw the golden eyes of the handsome doctor and smiled sheepishly. She wanted to introduce herself but couldn’t find her voice. Looking to Bella, she silently pleaded with her to do the talking for her. 

"Carlisle, these are my friends, Angela and Jessica." With the blonde's attention on them, the girls in question blushed furiously. 

Carlisle smiled and nodded in greeting. "It's nice to meet you girls."

Bella could swear that she heard Jessica squeal in delight as the patriarch spoke to her. 

Carlisle then turned his attention once more to Charlie and Bella. He put a hand on the chief's shoulder and said. "She's in perfect health, my friend. There's no need to worry. Just keep an eye on her through the night and if complications arise, give me a call." 

The stiffness of Charlie's shoulders dissipated from the soothing sound of the doctors voice. Carlisle held out his hand to the father and the two shook hands. It had been pretty cold in the hospital so there was no need for an excuse for the chilling temperature of his skin. After the two shook hands, the elder Cullen held out his hand to Bella. She took it gratefully and thanked him profusely for his care. 

"No worries, Bella. I hope the next time we meet it's under better circumstances." Carlisle's kind eyes washed over her and Bella nodded in agreement before releasing his hand. After one final smile to the group he walked away to enter the information from Bella's exam into the computer system. 

The small group of four walked toward the exit of the hospital and Jessica turned to Bella to ask her a question. 

"Hey a small group of us are going out to Port Angeles this weekend to go shopping for dresses for the spring dance. Would you be able to go? It might be fun and relaxing." Jessica smiled. 

Bella for a fact did not enjoy shopping as much as the next girly girl. She really liked to be outside, hike, climb trees, and get dirty. That was the kind of girl she was; but with Jessica's and Angela's arrival, she figured that this was the least she could do to repay them for their kindness. Bella wanted to stand her ground and say no, but the charming smile of her friend did away with any defenses. 

The teen nodded and smiled in agreement. She looked to her father for permission and Charlie immediately said she should go if she was feeling up to it. After Angela and Jessica said their farewells, Bella heard shushed voices around the corner; all were very familiar. She told Charlie to get the car ready and she'll be down in a minute. 

Once he was out of sight, Bella pasted herself to the wall and worked her ears. 

_"Are you crazy?! You're gonna get us caught!"_ That voice for sure belonged to a certain blonde girl by the name of Rosalie Hale. If Bella remembered correctly, she was formally dubbed the Ice Queen by at least half of the students at Forks High. She was also Emmett's girlfriend. 

_"Rose, calm down dear. Alice was only doing what she thought was right to protect Bella. You know how important the girl is to her."_ That voice belonged to Carlisle. Even though his tone was calm, his words urged discretion. 

Bella chanced a peek around the corner and saw Alice up against the wall with her arms crossed against her chest. Rosalie stood just across from her in the same position, but with an accusatory glare on her face. Alice's eyes were glued to the ground but Carlisle stood there as a referee type, ready to step in if anything got too much. 

Alice peeked up from the floor and turned her head in Bella's direction. The teen gasped and shot around the corner once more with her back against the wall. She didn’t hear anything more until a swishing sound from a door being opened at the end of the hallway. Running steps were heard as another entered the conversation. Bella took another glance around the corner and saw a woman with caramel hair take Alice into her arms. She held her like a mother and stroked her hair. She also saw Edward walking toward the little group with his hands in his pockets. His messed up hair shined in the bright lights that were in the hospital hallway. There was way too much product in that guys hair. 

_"Alice, are you alright. Your father told me what happened."_ The girl in question wrapped her arms around her mother's waist and sighed sadly. 

Carlisle went to his wife's side and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

_"Everything's fine, my love. You must keep your voice down. We don’t want to attract any attention."_

The woman nodded. 

The blonde sister was silent as the two parents comforted their youngest. She looked at the trio with a hard glare and then, for some reason, Edward spoke up. 

_"C'mon Rosalie, that van was coming way too fast for Bella to even think about getting out of the way."_

Rosalie scoffed and replied.

_"Do you understand what this means? We're going to be found out. No one is supposed to know about us and Alice is going to get us caught. This infatuation with his girl has to stop."_

Alice wrenched herself from her mother's hold and got up in the blondes face. Bella was surprised to see this side of the pixie. She'd never seen her friend angry before today. 

_"What was I supposed to do Rose?! Let her die?! I would sooner have you tear me apart."_ Alice said. It made Bella wonder what life with the Cullen's was really like. Once more Alice's mother took the pixie into her arms and made shushing noises to calm her down. A moment later Bella heard a little gasp come from the small Cullen and her whole body went stiff. A sharp pang of concern rang through Bella's heart as she saw Alice seize. She was in that position for a long time before relaxing again in her mother's arms. 

_"What did you see?"_ Esme asked the girl.

Alice looked sadly at the other four members of her family and said. 

_"Nothing is clear."_

Edward coughed into his fist before he spoke up. 

_"I love how we hash out our family business in public, but we really need to bring this home."_ He nodded to the opposite end of the hallway and when they saw a nurse walk by, they left. Bella stepped out into the hall and watched as Alice walked away once again. She didn’t know how long she was there, but it was long enough for Charlie to come looking for her. 

"C'mon Bells. Let's get you home."

With one last look at the door that Alice made her exit, Bella and her father left the hospital, with more questions than she ever thought possible. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I didn't lose you guys with how fast this chapter escalated things, but if you enjoyed it there's a mental fist bump for ya.


	13. The Cold Ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've added this chapter with keeping in mind that Billy didn't tell the story of their tribe until Eclipse. I changed it a bit and brought Rachel Black into the fray since she is the one sister that isn't already tied down by marriage.

The drive home was a short one and Bella was thankful to see the white wash paint of her childhood home. She got out of the passenger side of the cruiser when Jacob Black made his chaotic entrance. With his long hair flowing behind him, he arrived on a motorcycle that he no doubt fixed up himself. There wasn’t much to do on the reservation where he lived, so you made do with what you had and what Jake had was a garage, old motorbikes, and tools.

Jake got off of the bike and ran toward his friend.

"Oh my God. Bella are you ok? My dad told me you were at the hospital." His breathing was erratic and his chest was heaving but otherwise he was fine.

The boy was afraid to embrace his friend but Bella made the move first and wrapped her arms around Jake's shoulders. He in turn, placed his on her waist. They hugged for a few moments before Jacob asked if he could steal Bella away for a little while. Knowing that they were friends as children, Charlie allowed the two to go off on the motorbike. Bella held on to his Jake as he sped off into the distance towards the reservation.

La Push was where the Quileute tribe of Native Americans lived in Washington State. Since Bella and Charlie were friends with Billy Black and his family, they were allowed on site. The two friends made their way to Jake's garage that was close to the small house he shared with his father. Once there, they were joined by a handful of others. Quil, Embry, Seth, and Leah walked over to the shed that Jake had dubbed his place.

Leah was the only other girl in the group but she gave the boys a run for their money when it came to toughness. Bella remembered meeting both her and her little brother Seth when she was younger. They were both slightly scrawny but well taken care of. Bella took one look at the now teenage girl in her white tank top and saw the definition in her arms. She wondered what had caused such a transformation but kept silent when Leah's brown eyes met her own. Both girls smiled and paid attention to what Jake was currently doing.

"So Bells, what happened today?" Jake asked as he took the wrench from Embry's hand.

Bella thought about what to tell the group. She was concerned about what would happen if she did tell Jake, but they had been friends for so long that it was hard to keep anything from the boy. She took a deep breath and relayed all that happened that afternoon. All except for the private conversation the Cullen family had in the hospital hallway. Jake and the others bristled at the mention of the Cullen's and it made Bella curious.

"Did I say something wrong?" She asked gaging any further reaction from the five friends.

Jake said nothing so Leah spoke up instead. Her brown eyes were kind and held something else in them as she looked at Bella.

"The Cullen's are dangerous Bella."

The teen scoffed and shook off what Leah had just told her. Jake then turned around and said the same thing. "It's true Bella. Our families have never seen eye to eye, but there's something off about them. Its actually a fact that they're not allowed on our land."

"You've got to be kidding me. They've been nothing but kind to me since I got here." Then she remembered Rosalie and her words to Alice.

"Well Rosalie and I may have got off on the wrong foot but the rest of them have been very nice to me. Alice especially; she's the one that saved me." Jake got up from his crouched position and with wide eyes turned to Bella.

"What?!" Jake yelled at her. He almost looked afraid; why, Bella didn’t know.

"I can't explain it and maybe I don’t even want to but she saved me from that van, Jake. It was like nothing to her." Bella spoke in a mystified voice and remembered the warm, soft embrace. Even though her body had been hard as stone.

Jake ran a hand through his long hair and walked around the shed for a moment before calming down. He took a deep breath and turned toward the other native teens.

"Alright; this stays between us, understand? No one tells the elders squat. Got it?" The four others nodded their heads in succession.

He turned his attention once more to his childhood friend. Outside, the sun was setting. It was also starting to get cold. He knew that once the sun went down completely the elders would start a bonfire for the whole reservation. Jake asked Bella if she wanted to stay for the fire and she nodded with a smiling face. She didn’t understand his reaction to this entire thing, but she was glad that he calmed down about the whole thing.

They all hung out in the garage for a few more minutes and then walked along the beach. Quil and Embry laughed and splashed each other with the cool water from the ocean while the other three walked with Bella. Jake was on the right side of her and Leah was on the left, with of course Seth not far behind. They mostly talked about why Bella decided to move back to Forks, and she gave them her story. She asked if they could give her some insight into her English paper that was due soon.

"Don’t worry Bella, you'll hear all about our legends at the bonfire tonight." Jake said as he ran off to join Embry and Quil.

That just left Leah, Bella and Seth; but when the little brother decided to run off with the boys, it just left the two girls to talk.

"Honestly Leah, I don’t know how you keep up." Bella said as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"To tell you the truth, I don’t either. It comes with a territory I guess. My cousin Emily and I are really the only two girls around. Rachel is back in town for the holiday, but I don’t think she's hanging here much longer." Leah reached behind her neck and massaged the skin. Once she felt the stiffness leave her, she remembered something. "There's also Emily's niece Claire, but she's just a baby."

Bella placed her hand on Leah's shoulder understanding her uncomfortable situation. She was the only girl in a sea of testosterone.

"I'm sorry Leah. I'll try to be around more."

Leah smiled and stated how much she would like if Bella came around more often. There were several things that the two girls shared in common. They like to go hiking, they didn’t like shopping, both were clumsy, and they each were tomboys at heart. It would be really fun having Bella around.

The sun set over the horizon and the group of friends made it to Billy's house where the bonfire was being set up. Bella saw her friend Leah look over to the large boy Sam and a girl with a large scar on her face. It honestly looked like it hurt. Sam's arms were around Emily's waist and she leaned into his chiseled chest. As Bella took in the sight of her friend it looked like she was about to cry.

"Are you okay?" She asked as Leah wiped at her wet eyes.

"Yeah. Sam's an old boyfriend and that's my cousin Emily. They're dating now." Leah said bitterly.

She tried not to hold anything against the two, but she and Sam dated for three years. They were in love. She could've sworn that they had been in love. Then Sam had gone away for a week. Not telling her where he was going took a hard toll on the girl. When he came back, Sam wasn’t the same. He got angry all of the time and he was pompous and rude. Not anything like he had been before. Her father Harry explained to her that it probably had something to do with puberty, but Leah knew it was bullshit.

Then Emily came to town for a visit and things changed even more. Sam broke up with her and began dating her cousin soon after. Leah cried for days. She tried to want nothing but the best for the two but it was hard; really hard. Now it seemed that they were all over each other and frankly needed to get a room.

Jake got the attention of the two girls and waved them over to where Rachel and him had been sitting. His sister had gorgeous copper skin, with mysterious dark eyes. Bella remembered Rachel and Rebecca always giving Jacob a hard time as a child. Their relationship was a familial one but sometimes the teasing got a little out of hand. Bella had assumed that each of them did some growing up after their mother died. Rachel had been going to school over at Washington State University and Rebecca married a guy and moved to Hawaii.

It had been hard for the Black children after Sarah passed away, but Jake and Billy got by just fine. Still, Bella was glad her old friend was in town for the time being. Born one year before herself, the two had been close as friends. Like sisters even; but of course everything changed when her Charlie and Renee separated.

Rachel stood up to greet her old friend and Bella was shocked to see how tall she had grown over the years. Standing at 5'10" she towered over Bella's 5'4". Sure it wasn’t an astounding height difference but with Rachel only being a year older than her it was going to take some getting used to. She and Bella hugged and the two sat next to each other when Billy began to speak. His gravely voice echoed within the space and beyond.

_"We Quileute's have been a small tribe from the very beginning; but there was always magic in our blood. We were once great warriors, shapeshifters with the ability to change into the mighty and powerful wolf. This enabled us to scare off our enemies and protect our tribe."_

Across the fire, Bella watched and listened to Jake's father speak and it was as if the entire forest went silent; also listening to his tale. The fire made her feel warm on her skin, a slight comfort from the cold.

_"One day, our warriors came across a creature. It looked like a man, but it was as hard as stone and cold like ice. It had killed a couple of people from the village; broke their necks, and drained the blood from their bodies. In his rage, the warrior felt his body contort and within seconds a man there was no longer, but the wolf instead. This creature fought with our kind and gained the upper hand, but it was our sharp teeth that tore the man to pieces. It wasn’t until that we set the being aflame that it was truly destroyed"_

Sparks flew from the fire in front of her and rose to the sky; disappearing when it ascended into the cold.

_"Our people lived in fear, thinking that the cold one had not been alone; they had been right."_

Billy looked around the fire, his eyes landing on each of the members sitting with him this night. His deep brown orbs finally landed on Bella. His gaze made her uneasy. It was an accusatory look that made her body shake.

"You okay Bella." Rachel asked as she put an arm around the quaking teen.

Bella nodded, saying that it was the chill in the air getting to her; but warmth was radiating off of Rachel in waves. It felt nice for a while but combined with the heat from the fire, Bella had to move away slightly. This gave her friend a frown and she instantly regretted that she had been the cause of such a face.

_"She took her vengeance out on the village. Our elder chief, Taha Akhi was the only spirit warrior left to save the tribe after his son was killed. His entire body shook with rage and grief as his wolf descended on the cold one. Taha Akhi's third wife could see he would lose. She was no magical being, no special powers but one; Courage."_

Bella couldn’t look away from the elder as he told the story of his people. She was hanging on his every word.

_"The third wife plunged the chief's son's dagger into herself. Smelling the blood, the cold one went toward her, eyes red and black with hunger. Her sacrifice distracted the cold woman long enough for Taha Akhi to destroy her. She saved the tribe. Over time, our enemies have disappeared, but one remains. The Cold One's. Our magic awakened when they were near, we would sense the threat in our blood. But for now this tale remains as such. A story, a warning to all on the reserve that if our enemies return, we will have the strength to prevail."_

Everyone around the fire clapped when Billy went silent. Rachel however just looked at the fire, deep in thought. Bella put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention and the native jumped at the touch. Green eyes delved into deep brown as Bella spoke.

"It's getting late. Do you mind bringing me home? It would be nice to catch up a bit." Rachel smiled again and got up from her spot on the log. She held out her hand to her old friend and Bella took it with grace and stood up. She said her goodbyes to Jake, Leah, Billy and Seth and then the pair were off.

As they walked to Rachel's truck, the two girls talked about what had been going on in their lives from when they had been children. Other than her mother's death, there really hadn't been anything to talk about on Rachel's end. Bella told her about all of the times she and her mother had moved and about her life in Phoenix. It looked as if her friend had been envious of her for a moment but only because it had been hard to live on the reservation since the accident that took her mother's life and made her father wheelchair bound.

Taking a hair tie from her wrist, Rachel put her hair up into a soft ponytail. The vehicle that she drove was an old beat up truck similar to Bella's own, but the glass from the windows had been missing, and the color was a teal blue. It was low to the ground so Bella didn’t have to climb to get in the passenger seat.

It took a moment to start the truck but it roared to life once Rachel begged a little.

During the ride home, Bella spoke up.

"So Jake told me something today."

Rachel waited for a moment and Bella said.

"He thinks my friends are dangerous."

The native girl chuckled and said.

"In case you haven't noticed, my brother has had a bit of a crush on you ever since we were kids. If you tell him that you have friends other than him, he's gonna get super jealous. He might be doubly so depending on the friends you have. Do I know them?"

Bella paused for a moment trying to decide whether or not she should say. It had been an innocent enough question for the ride home so she thought, why not?

"They're the Cullen's."

For a moment, Rachel swerved along the road and played it off as an animal running in front of her truck.

"Honestly Bella, we're really not supposed to say anything about it. It's more of a scary story to tell the little kids when they're misbehaving. It's all like the story my dad told you about the spirit warrior business." Rachel scoffed at the entire thing and kept driving, but there was something in her demeanor that made Bella press her for more.

"Well Jake seemed very upset. Leah and the others too. I wanna know what's going on."

Her friend sighed and used her free hand to rub a spot on the back of her neck.

"Well you already know the story of the cold one's and how supposedly our people were once 'spirit warriors'." Rachel's fingers made air quotes.

"The Cullen's are supposedly descendants of an enemy tribe. Our ancestors were no stranger's to drama it seemed. Well, my great, great grandfather, who was the chief at the time, caught the enemy hunters on our land; but instead of fighting them we made a treaty with them. If they stayed off Quileute land, we wouldn't say what they really were to the pale faces."

Dark brown eyes turned to her and eyebrows moved up and down in jest.

Bella had this confused look on her face and she said.

"Wait, Alice told me that her family had just moved here."

"Or they just moved back." Rachel replied adding an oooohhhh for effect.

Billy never mentioned that The Cold One's were immortal, but something just didn’t sit right with Bella on this subject.

"Jake did tell me that you English paper was on old folktales. Why don’t you go to the library in Port Angeles and find what you're looking for there." The teal blue pickup pulled into the Swan's driveway moments later so there wasn’t really any time to speak anymore about the subject.

Rachel got out of the driver seat and went around to Bella's door to open it. The two friends walked up the drive and up the steps leading to the large red door.

"I guess this is your stop." The tall girl said as she looked down slightly at her old friend. She waited until Bella reached around her shoulders to give her a hug. Rachel smiled into it really enjoying the feel of her best friend again. She really wished her sister could be here too. It would be just like old times.

Once Bella let go, she reached for the doorknob and looked back. "It's really good to see you again, Rach. I hope you're gonna be staying a while."

Rachel smiled and began walking back to her truck. She heard the front door shut and when her back was turned, she smelled something fowl in the woods. She knew what it was, but since they didn’t make any move to attack her or Bella, she kept her shaking hands under control. Stuffing them in her pockets. Moments later, a small figure came walking passed the tree line.

"I suppose I should thank you for not telling her." Alice Cullen said to the native as she looked up at the Swan house.

"And you must be Alice." Rachel said with a huff, remembering the name Bella said in the truck. Sure she didn’t like the smell of the newcomer, but she didn’t want to cause a scene right in front of Bella's house.

"I know who you are too. You're Rachel Black, Bella's best friend since childhood." The vampire stated as fact.

It was true that her visions were clouded by the Quileute magic, but that was only after they first shifted into their wolf forms. This was thanks to their chaotic mindset. When Rachel was a child, Alice could see her future clear as day. There were times when Alice saw Rachel, Rebecca, Jacob and Bella playing as children. Their little bodies running all over the forest, never in the same place twice.

"You may not believe me, but I've known you since you were small." Alice said with a slight grin. She knew that their kinds did not mix, with their violent history, but that didn’t mean that the future had to be filled with bloodshed as well.

"Well this is a little awkward then, because I don’t know one single thing about you." While the scent of the tiny vampire was foul, Alice didn’t smell all that bad. It was a sickly sweet smell that tickled Rachel's nose.

The two women just stood there at the hood of Rachel's truck, just standing there in comfortable silence rained over them. They didn’t need words to convey that they wanted the same thing; Bella's safety. Alice knew that her mate would figure out what she and her family were with time, but there were two outcomes of that knowledge. One, Alice just couldn’t bare to think about.

"Well, I best be moving along." Rachel said with a yawn and a stretch. "Be seeing you, Shortie."

She got into her truck, started the engine and drove off.

Alice grumbled and with her arms crossed against her shoulders she said.

"I'm not that short."

She then heard Bella's heartbeat in the house on the second floor. Her eyes flittered to the upper portion and she sighed before leaning up against a nearby tree; listening to the heartbeat that calmed her mind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have noticed, in my story, I made Rachel Black the first female to shift in her tribe. I'm still not exactly sure if I want to make her the Alpha of Jacob's pack since she is older, but we'll see where my mind goes. And another thing, I wanted to place a sense of comradery between the vampire and shifter peoples, and who better to do that than Alice.


	14. SHOPPING YAY! (Not really)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a bit of a trigger warning of attempts of sexual assault. But it's also when Bella starts to figure some things out about our favorite tiny Cullen.

The next morning, Bella woke with a start. She heard a ringing in her ears and rubbed them to make it stop. She remembered her mother saying something along the lines of, _"If your ears are ringing, it means some one is talking about you."_ the memory brought a smile to her lips. The sun filtered in through the blinds of her window and her eyes squinted to block out the brightness.

Stretching, Bella got up out of her bed and went to her closet to pick out clothes for the day. A true tomboy at heart, she picked out a simple plain color t-shirt and jeans. Surely Jessica would have something to say about her outfit, but Bella could really care less. As she disrobed from her pajamas, she felt the chill in her room from the cold. Shivering, the brunette thought about the chill of Alice's skin.

Somehow, thinking of the small Cullen brought a warmth all around her body. The smoldering copper of her eyes and the sexy paleness of her skin were all so much for Bella to take in. The teen knew she had to reign in her passion for Alice, but it kept getting harder and harder with each passing day and with each new thing she learned about her. Bella wanted to know everything about Alice Cullen. Even though they were friends, there were clearly some things that the pixie was hiding from her. The super strength being one of them.

Bella took her time getting dressed and went downstairs to make breakfast for her and Charlie. As she whipped up the batter for pancakes, she thought about the story of the Cold One's from the night before. There were so many similarities between the character in the story and the Cullen family. Their cold hard skin, their unnatural speed and strength, their eyes always changing color, and the fact that Bella never really saw any of them eat. The Cullen's were always in the cafeteria with food on their trays, but the food always stayed there; it never depleted.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she took each tiny fact and put them in a file in her mind, but her thought process was broken as she heard the heavy footsteps of her father coming down the stairs. Bella saw him moments later, with his hand behind his neck and yawning loudly. His hair was nothing but a bedridden mop and the scruff on his face became more and more evident. The salt and pepper bristles scratched her forehead as Charlie kissed Bella good morning.

"Everything smells great, Bells." Charlie said as he went to the stoop to get the morning paper.

There was nothing of note on the front page, so he immediately turned to the funny pages.

"Any chance I could get the classifieds from you, Dad?" Bella asked.

She hadn't been in town for very long but she knew that she needed to find a job somewhere here. So, she scanned the classified pages for anything that might help. Bella circled several babysitting opportunities and a few retail openings too. Even the diner needed help, so she put a question mark near that one.

A couple hours pass and Bella gets a text from Angela.

Ange: **_Hey Bella, I hope you're feeling okay after yesterday._**

Bella: **_Yeah Ange! Thanks for coming by the hospital. That was really nice of you and Jessica._**

As if reading her mind, another ping from her phone came from none other than Jessica Stanley.

Jess: **_Hey Bells!!! U better b up 4 sum shopping 2day :)!!_**

Bella rolled her eyes at the grammar that her friend was using, but beggars cant be choosers.

Bella: ** _You bet Jess. I'm just finishing up getting ready._**

She wasn't really doing anything, rather she was sitting with her father in the living room watching the football game that was on. It was post season and everyone was getting ready for the playoffs. Bella wasn’t really a fan of sports when she was younger but now it was a different story. She even tried out for the soccer team back in Phoenix, but with the move and everything she had to forgo being on the extra-curricular.

It wasn’t long before Bella heard the doorbell ring. She got up from her seat on the couch and went to answer the door. Angela and Jessica now stood in front of her with huge smiles plastered on their faces. Bella said goodbye to her father after she put her high top converse on and walked out the door.

The ride over to Port Angelus took about a half an hour and it seemed like a pretty cute town. A tiny bit bigger than Forks itself but still cute. There was a strip of small businesses and restaurants so there was plenty to do for the time being. The first stop of course was the formal dress shop. It was decorated beautifully and when they entered through the door, the ringing of a bell could be heard above them.

A sweet older woman came out from the back of the shop and greeted the three friends. The girls smiled and asked if they could see the prom dresses they had available. The grey haired woman ushered them through the small store and when they found what they were looking for, Angela and Jessica's eyes widened with delight. Bella looked a little less enthused but only just. She really did want to go to the dance to see what all of the fuss was about.

They spent a few hours looking at dresses and while Bella was taking a break from trying things on, she took a seat over at the front window. The sun filtered through the clouds ever so slightly and the teen sighed.

"What are you thinking about Bella?" Angela asked as she wandered out of the dressing room in a dress she had picked out. It was a red dress that seemed to fit her right every where. Eric would sure enjoy his date to the dance that was for sure. It fell off of one shoulder but encased the other in fabric. It was long, but not long enough that she was stepping all over it.

"Nothing. I'm alright." Bella smiled and told her friend how great she looked in the gown she was currently wearing.

"Oh, em, gee. I freaking LOVE IT!" Jessica squealed as she threw open the curtain revealing her own prom dress.

Both Bella's and Angela's eyes widened as they took in the display. It was a subtle pink dress that looked more like a tutu in every sense of the word. It had more frills on it than anything either girl had seen before, and it reached just below the knee. It sparkled in the light too. So many rhinestones, so little time. It was totally Jessica's style though.

"It's totally you Jess." Bella said with a smile on her face.

"I know _, right_?" The girl said as she spun around watching all of the tiny sparkles glitter in the light. 

Now it was Bella's turn to pick out a dress. She took a deep breath and got up from her spot at the window and took another look around the shop.

_'It's gonna be a long day.'_ She thought as nothing really caught her eye.

______________________________

Jessica, Angela and Bella left the store an hour later. They each had a bag in their hand as they walked the strip. Two of the three girls had purchased a dress that fit each of them perfectly. Bella opted for something different. It was a dark blue tux with matching pants, a white undershirt and black pinstriped vest. The teen wasn’t really the dress type and she said so. Bella stood her ground when her friends tried to force her in a dress and told them that she wasn’t going like that. With her small-ish bust and thin waistline, Bella believed she could pull off the look and she was right.

Angela and Jessica gasped at how good their friend looked in the three piece suit and no longer questioned Bella's sense of style. They grabbed some matching shoes for their ensembles and left the store with their purchases. The girls then heard the grumbling of Bella's stomach and went to the nearest restaurant for something to eat. By the time they were finished the sun was starting to set. The color of the sky was a beautiful orange hue with a dark blue overtone.

They walked some more and Bella saw a library that seemed to be calling to her. She looked at the building with great interest and began walking to it without thinking. The other two followed suit and wondered what Bella could be thinking about at this moment.

The brunette wandered over to the section that held the legends and folklore of other cultures. Skimming over the leather bound book spines, she found what she was looking for. Rachel did tell her to come here when the time permitted her, and now here she was.

"What you looking for, Bella?" Jessica asked as she watched her friend in a kind of trance like state.

As if hearing her friends voice for the first time that day, Bella turned to her and said. "I'm just looking for a book on my project for English. I won't be long."

Jessica and Angela both nodded their heads but seemed a little weary leaving their friend in the library all by herself.

"Okay. We're gonna go get some ice cream down the way a little bit. Just come get us when you're done." Bella nodded in understanding and continued her search.

Finding what she was looking for moments later, she took an old leather bound book from its place on the shelf and brought it over to one of the research stations nearby. The book looked older than anything she had ever seen before. It was in old Victorian writing and it almost hurt her eyes to read it. Bella got the hang of it though and read the words on the page.

Cold ones, superior strength and speed, color changing eyes, red eyes for human blood drinkers, golden eyes (diet unknown), cold hard skin. The final word was like something off of the television screen. Vampire.

When Bella saw the final word, she immediately went to the computer and looked up anything and everything she could on actual, real life vampires. Bella gasped as she read the words on the screen and looked at the pictures. Of course you hear stories of vampires and how they creep into rooms of young women and drink their blood, but how much of that was fact and how much was fiction.

Bella jumped in her seat as her cell-phone rang. The librarian present made a shushing sound and she turned the down the sound on her ringer. She looked at the screen and smiled when she saw Alice's name light up. Bella answered it instantly, needing to hear the voice of her friend on the phone. She hadn't heard anything from Alice since the 'incident' happened.

"Heya, Alice."

"Hi Bella." Alice spoke in return. Bella could hear the timid and exhausted tone in Alice's musical voice. She sounded so unsure and that scared Bella.

"Stay where you are. I'm coming to get you. There are some things we need to talk about."

"Okay. I'll see you soon."

The girls said their goodbyes and hung up. How would Alice know where she was? Bella didn’t have the chance to tell her friend about her plans with Angela and Jessica before the accident. She got up from her spot at the computer and left the library all together to wait outside for Alice to arrive.

Sitting on the steps, Bella began to twiddle her thumbs and wondered what car Alice would be driving. Would it be Edward's Volvo, Rosalie's convertible, or Emmett's Jeep? She looked all around the street trying to figure out what vehicle the pixie would pull up in. But then, something much more sinister caught her eye.

Three men were leering at her from the middle of the street. The road wasn't busy and they crossed the rest of the way toward Bella's position. She wondered where Angela and Jessica were getting their ice cream but didn’t really have time to think much about it. Bella got up from her spot on the steps and started walking. She could hear the heavy footsteps of the men growing louder and faster. They were matching her pace and Bella's heartrate spiked in fear.

She began to run. They ran after her making sure not to lose sight of her, laughing as they did so.

_'I have just about the worst luck.'_ Bella thought as she continued to run.

She closed to eyes as she ran to try and block out the loud rushing footsteps behind her.

"C'mon baby, we just wanna have a good time!" One of the men said as they kept getting closer.

Another one raced that much faster and got in front of her. Bella screamed as she looked into the deep brown eyes of her would be assailant. Breathing in through her nose, she could smell the liquor and stench on him. It made her sick to her stomach. A thick heavy hand made its way to her shoulder and with a courage she didn’t know she possessed, Bella made a fist and struck the man right across the face.

The others laughed at the futile attempt but the one she hit stood there in shock. A moment later however, he regained his composure and the easy going smile on his face became an angry snarl as he back handed Bella. She screamed as the force knocked her back.

Her blood rushed through her ears as she fell onto the asphalt. She had never been hit so hard in her life. It would surely leave a bruise in the morning. The man that Bella hit walked up to her and began to unlatch the button of his pants.

"Now you owe me, bitch." He snarled.

Bella's heartbeat rang loudly in her ears as the big burly hands began reaching in his pants. She couldn’t even hear the screech of tires, or the sounds of the other men's screams as they were thrown to the side like tissue paper. Fearing the worst, Bella squeezed her eyes shut and waited.

What she heard however, was a snarl and a scream.

Opening her bright green eyes, she turned and saw a bright yellow Porsche behind her.

"Bella, get in the car."

"B-but what about-"

Alice growled and said more forcefully.

"Bella, just get in the **_FUCKING CAR_**!" The pixie yelled and turned her sights on the men getting up from where she had tossed them.

The teen ran to the fancy car and opened the passenger side door. Alice came and sat in the driver side moments later in an absolute rage. Looking at the small girl, Bella was amazed at the anger wafting off of her. She turned her sights back to where her attackers and saw all three of them unconscious and tied up with a broken metal street light. She gasped at the sight.

This was the second time that Alice had saved her. The second time that she had been there when she was in danger. Alice was breathing heavily next to her trying to keep her composure, but Bella could see the dark obsidian of either hunger or rage. With a shaking hand, she reached out for the pale one on the steering wheel. Placing it on Alice's, it felt right. Bella could hear Alice's heavy breathing finally slowing, finally calming down.

The vampire turned her gaze to her mate and looked at her then. The two pairs of eyes just stared at one another conveying that they were both alright, they were together again. Alice could feel her anger and fear dissipating. The warm hand on her own gave her a sense of peace; one of stability.

"I'm so sorry I yelled at you, Bella." Alice sobbed with no tears. She blinked in pain from her tear ducts being blocked. The relief of being able to cry had been long gone for some time, but she still wasn’t used to the burning pain.

"It's okay. Honestly Alice. You're like my own personal superhero." Bella chuckled trying to break the tension in the car.

Alice answered with a deep giggle of her own. It was still marred with sorrow from the vision she had just moments ago, but it was something.

"I don’t know about that." She said as she started her car and began to drive down the set of shops.

A few moments left them finding Jessica and Angela and telling the pair about what Bella almost endured. By the angry red mark on her cheek, it would be hard to hide anyway. The teen was still a little shaken up by the experience, but ordered a small scoop of cherry vanilla ice cream anyway. Each bite was delightful and Bella moaned with each taste. It was like the best thing she had ever eaten.

At first, Jessica and Angela were both confused as to why Alice had just shown up out of the blue like that, but the small Cullen had explained that she was just going out for a drive anyway and came upon the situation. Bella and Alice looked at each other both knowing it had been a lie.

"You're so tiny, Alice." Angela had said with disbelief that she had taken on three large guys all by herself.

"Oh darling Angela, I'm stronger than I look, and I have several years of self defense classes under my belt."

After the group of four had finished their time at the ice cream shop, Jessica and Angela went their separate ways from Bella and Alice. Jessica had offered to take Bella home that night but when her friend grabbed Alice's hand, she knew what the answer would be.

Alice ushered her mate back to the yellow Porsche and opened the passenger side door for her. Without words, she went over to the driver side once more and drove home. The speed was a little faster than what the speed limit allowed, but it didn’t scare Bella too much. Charlie's police cruiser wasn't in the driveway so the two had assumed that he had been called into work.

Bella looked up at the red front door and realized that she didn’t want to be alone tonight. With everything that had happened over the course of a couple days, the teen was absolutely exhausted.

"Stay; please." Bella spoke plainly.

It wasn’t a question but it was still a humble request.

Alice thought about it for a moment before closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"I really shouldn’t. I'm not the safest to be around right now."

"I don’t care!" Bella clenched her fists and looked down at her lap. "Don't you understand? I would rather die, than keep away from you."

Alice was surprised to hear those words come from Bella's mouth, but she said them with such conviction that it had to be the truth.

"Bella, I am not good company to keep!" The pixie wouldn’t give up without a fight and she was trying to convey how dangerous she was at the moment. Her body was still coiled like a snake ready to strike. The time they had spent with Angela and Jessica did little to ease whatever tension she was feeling.

"Then stop saving me." Those were four words that Bella never thought that she would say, but they were the ones that struck a chord in Alice's heart.

Both girls were silent for a moment but then Alice spoke up again.

"I'm going to return the car to my house and then I'll be back. I told you that we would talk tonight and I meant it. Just…leave your light on." Alice once again looked deep into Bella's green eyes and sighed. Her heart won this battle, hopefully it would be enough to keep her mate out of danger.

Bella felt a sense of relief and victory at the same time. She smiled and leaned over to kiss Alice on the cheek before getting out of the car. None of them moved for a while after realizing what had just happened. Bella touched her lips which were now cold but pleasantly tingly and Alice touched her cheek, silently vowing never to wash it again. Bella, after a few moments walked up to her front door and put her key in the deadbolt. Looking back, she saw the piercing copper color of Alice's eyes staring back at her own. She gave one last smile and went inside, counting the seconds that she would see the small Cullen again.


	15. The Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bella deals with the events of the night in her own way. Alice returns and the two talk about what makes the pixie and her family so different.

Bella walked with heavy footsteps up the stairs and into her bedroom. She dropped her bag on the floor and plopped down backwards on the bed. She remembered the bag after Alice put her in the car after the ice cream shop and thankfully it was still there. After a few moments of just laying there on her comfy bed, the sting of tears crept up to her eyes. With everything that had happened to her over the course of two days, Bella was amazed that she didn’t break sooner. Thick, heavy tears streamed down her face as she remembered the events of the night. 

She couldn’t believe that she was almost assaulted by those men. Shaking, Bella moved over to the head of the bed and grabbed a pillow. When she realized that that clothes she was in were marred with dirt and grime, she rushed to the closet and tore off her clothes like they were burning her. Seconds later she ran to the bathroom and started the water for the bathtub. Bella didn’t turn on the shower head until steam rose from the water. 

The teen hissed through her teeth as she hot liquid hit her skin, but it seemed like the right thing to do. She needed a shower after those men stood over her. Bella remembered the man that began to unbutton his pants, it made her sick to her stomach what would've happened if Alice hadn't shown up; so much that she gagged and released the contents of her stomach into the bathtub. She tasted the cherry vanilla ice cream and the pasta dinner that she had. The acid burned in her throat and she couldn’t stop throwing up until her stomach was completely empty. 

As her bile ran down into the drain, Bella sat down on the floor of the tub and brought her knees up to her naked chest. The hot water made her skin red, but she didn’t care. Bella was shivering and she was becoming more emotionally exhausted. It wasn’t until the water started to cool down and her fingers began to prune that she stepped out from under spray.

Bella wrapped herself in a towel and went over to the bathroom mirror. She wiped away the murky fog and looked at herself in the glass. Her right cheek was now home to an angry bruise and it hurt to touch it. In her unclothed state, she went down the stairs, to the kitchen and opened the cabinet that held the pain killers. She got a glass of water for herself and three of the small white tablets. 

It was quite a feat to carry the water and the pills while holding the towel to her naked body. She returned to her room and entered her closet to find some pajamas. Flannel pants and a light purple camisole were her choice and Bella heard a tiny tap on her bedroom window. Kind of like the sound of a stone hitting the glass. 

The teen moved out from the walk-in closet and cracked a small smile when she saw Alice Cullen at her window. 

Bella opened it without hesitation and looked at the girl on the tree branch. She was perched there like it was the most normal thing in the world. 

"How long have you been out there?" She asked wondering when Alice had first arrived. 

"I could hear the water running when you were in the shower." The Cullen girl said from her spot in the tree. 

She was sitting on the branch with her feet dangling beneath. When Alice turned her gaze to Bella's face, she growled in anger at the sight of the black and blue mark. She got up and walked to the open window and went inside of her mate's room. She sat down once more when she saw the small couch at the windowsill and urged Bella to sit with her. The human didn’t hesitate and sat down immediately. 

Alice brought her hand up and was about to put it down when Bella grasped it and put it against her bruised cheek. The coldness of the other girls hand was a relief to her hot, tense skin. Minutes went by as the two just sat there in the same position. They never took their eyes off of one another and Alice never moved her hand from Bella's cheek. 

After a few more moments, Bella spoke up.

"How did you know where I was?"

Alice was unsure of how to go about this at first, but then she figured to just come out with it. 

"As you now know, my family isn’t exactly what you'd call normal." She paused to gauge Bella's reaction and finally removed her hand from her mate's face. Alice turned to face the door to Bella's room and fixed her eyes upon the metal doorknob for a few seconds before getting up from the bench. 

Alice went to sit on the other teen's bed as she continued. 

"A few of us Cullen's have 'gifts'. Jasper can read and manipulate emotions, Kate can push an electric current through her hands, and Edward can read minds." She watched as Bella squirmed in her seat as she heard the last gift. Alice chuckled and said, "Don't worry; he can read everyone's mind but yours. For some reason, you remain a mystery and an enigma to him."

"What about you?" Bella asked.

"Me? I was born with the ability to see the future." She heard a quiet 'wow' come from Bella as she said this. 

"I had a vision of you when you were born, and I've had visions of you as you grew up with Jacob and his sisters. A vision led me to you tonight." Alice turned her free fingers into tight fists as she recalled the vision she had after she had left the house. 

"I held myself back." Alice said as she looked passed Bella and out the window into the dark night. 

"I know." The teen responded. She saw the damage that Alice had caused to the side of Tyler's van and knew that the strength she had possessed was one she had never seen before; and then there was the street light that was wrapped around the three men. Did she do that too? 

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I tried to get there before anything happened, but I was too late; too slow." The words came out in a rush that Bella had to strain to hear them. She jumped over to Alice's side and hugged her. Her arms wrapped around the pixie's shoulders and into her short spikey hair. It was so soft and smelled like lavender. 

Alice wrapped her arms around Bella's waist and up toward the girls shoulder blades. She made sure not to hug her too tightly as she buried her face into the crook of her neck. Alice shook with dry sobs as she breathed in her mate's scent. Of course there was the smell of the body wash that she had used, but there was the underlying scent of Bella and only Bella. 

Bella held Alice until her body stopped shaking and brought her down to lay with her. Each girl laid on their side as they looked at one another. Bella threaded her fingers through Alice's hair and Alice's hand found purchase of the skin of Bella's waist. The light purple camisole had ridden up revealing the creamy pale, warm skin. 

"Please don't be scared of me." Alice whispered to her. She didn’t even realize she had spoken until Bella laughed out loud. A pout marred her features.

"I don’t think I could be scared of you even if I tried, Alice." Bella said confidently. 

"I meant what I said earlier. I'm not exactly the best company to keep." Alice said suddenly reminded of the danger she posed to Bella. Her mate was so fragile, so delicate. It was hard for a vampire to be mated to a human, but Alice couldn’t ignore the call from her heart. Couldn't turn a blind eye to the pull she felt from Bella. It would destroy her in the end if she tried. 

"I meant what I said too. I would rather die if it meant being away from you." Bella paused for a moment trying to think of the words shuffled around in her head. "It doesn’t make any sense. I've never felt this way about anyone, ever in my life. I feel so close to you and never want to be apart from you." Then she rolled onto her back, sighed and put a hand on her forehead. "But I barely even know you; how is all of this possible?" 

Before Alice could respond, Bella yawned loudly and didn’t even try to hide how tired, emotionally and physically, she had become. The pixie sat up to exit the room so that the teen could get some sleep after a horrible couple of days, but Bella took a hold of her waist. 

"Don't go; please." She pleaded. 

Alice once again put a chilly hand on top of Bella's warm one and held it for a few moments before lying back down again. They resumed their position facing one another and Bella could feel her eyelids closing. No matter how hard she tried to keep them open, they continued to drift shut. 

"Sleep Bella. I'll be here when you wake up." The vampire spoke, once more putting her hand on Bella's cheek. 

"Promise?" Bella asked with a sleepy voice.

"I promise." Alice swore as she watched her mate fall into a blissful slumber.

____________________________________________________

Morning came too soon for either girl as the light peaked through the curtains. Alice, not having slept from the fact that she was a vampire, held Bella in her sleep. She didn’t leave once during the night, keeping her promise. She wondered for a moment if the coldness of her skin would be a problem for the girl in her arms, but as Bella slept soundly, Alice found that she had nothing to worry about. 

As some light continued to filter through the room, the skin on Alice's arms began to shine like a thousand glittery diamonds. She had a vision of Charlie coming home from work in mere moments, so she began to extract herself from Bella's equally tight hold on her. Apparently, Bella was quite the Koala in her sleep. 

The human girl shifted and began to open her eyes as the glittery light shined in her face. Alice did her best to cover it up but it was to no avail. Bella rolled over fully and looked at the shining girl next to her. 

"Whoa." She whispered, her voice still heavy with sleep.

"Does your skin do that a lot?" Bella asked rubbing her eyes, not quite believing them.

Alice smiled and said.

"Only in the sun. All of us Cullen's do this for some reason or another. None of us are sure why. Not even Carlisle."

Bella heard the gravel of the drive-way crunch from a cars tires, signaling her father coming home. She gasped and threw the blanket off of her. She really didn’t want to explain why she had a girl in her bed; and not just any girl, Alice Cullen! Bella put her hands in her long brown tresses and looked for any possible place to hide the pixie. 

Alice took pity upon her mate and went over to the window to leave. 

"Wait, don’t go." Bella said with the cutest pout. 

The Cullen giggled and replied. 

"I have to go Bella. I need to eat, change clothes, and have a chat with my family. I promise I'll text you when I'm done. I'll come back and we can talk some more; preferably some place a little more private." Alice waited for an answer. 

Bella nodded and walked over to the girl at her window and hugged her again, this time around the waist. From Alice's superior position on the bench at the windowsill, their foreheads touched as Bella held her. The scent coming off of the human was enough to send Alice into a passionate frenzy. Her mind was racing with thoughts of kiss Bella and her breathing quickened and grew heavier. 

Bella didn’t want to let go of Alice as she stood there touching her, taking in her presence. Alice had become the very reason she had been alive, in both literal and metaphorical. There had to be some way to convey a sense of gratitude, there had to be some way to show the other girl what she had been feeling since she saw her that fateful day in English class. Alice and Bella both looked into each other's eyes and then their eyes drifted down to plump, soft lips. 

The vampire breathed through her nose to try and calm herself down, but it was futile. Bella inched ever closer to Alice's lips and little by little the space between became smaller and smaller, until there was none left. As Bella pressed her lips to Alice's, it felt like everything finally made sense. Each girl now know the answers to all of their questions, they now understood what kind of connection they had. Alice's eyes widened as images of her life flew by her. From the time she was a little girl, telling her mother about her visions, to the awful day her father put her in that asylum; from the day she met Kumboh, to the day he changed her into a vampire; everything finally made sense to Alice. 

A weight was lifted from Alice's shoulders as she kept kissing Bella. In truth, it was both of their first time's kissing another person and quite frankly, it would be the last time they would ever kiss someone new. 

Each movement of their lips against the other's was like a waltz, slow and tantalizing, smooth and succulent. When Alice tilted her head to get better leverage, better control of the kiss. On instinct the tip of her tongue licked Bella's bottom lip. The human moaned in response and separated her lips waiting for Alice's tongue to enter her mouth. 

Kissing Alice was unlike anything she had felt before. Her lips were cold, but soft. Her tongue and the inside of her mouth were warm. Their mouths danced together like a pair of passionate lovers and each girl couldn’t get enough of it.

"Bella? You awake?" Charlie's voice rang through the room, finally breaking the lip lock. 

Bella and Alice were both in a daze as they breathed heavily. The human was trying to take in breath and the vampire was trying to control whatever lust she was feeling right now. 

"Y-Yeah dad, I'm up. I'm getting changed though. I'll be down in a minute." She responded through the closed door, never taking her eyes off of the warm amber in front of her. 

"I have to go Bella." Alice said as she neared the open window. 

"Wait." Bella moaned as she pressed her lips once more to the pixie's.

"I-" Kiss. "Really-" Kiss, kiss. "Have to go." 

It took everything in Alice not to keep going. It took all of her self control to take Bella's shoulders in her hands and push her away. The girl sighed taking in the teens disheveled appearance. She licked her lips and felt her hunger grow. 

"I have to go. But I promise I will see you later."

Reigning in her lust and passion, Bella admitted defeat and pressed one last sweet kiss upon the ambrosia lips before her. 

"Be safe, Alice."

Alice smiled and jumped from the open window and onto the ground. Bella watched as she raced into the forest. Once the girl was out of sight, Bella took a shaking hand and put it through her hair once more, thankful for the cool air wafting into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep in mind that Alice hasn't told Bella that she is a vampire just yet. She wants her to tell her what she is on her own. She wants Bella to come to terms that she is falling in love with a dangerous, supernatural creature. Hopefully this chapter is to your liking. Next chapter will be coming soon.


	16. Speak the word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title says it all peeps.

Throughout that Sunday morning, Bella was in a love-sick haze. She felt like a Disney princess ready to burst into song about the new beau she had found. She made breakfast for her and Charlie and went upstairs to grab her phone that was still on the charger. There were a few texts from Angela and Jessica, and even a couple from Jake and Rachel. Jake must have given his sister her number.

Rachel: **Hey Bella. It's Rachel :).**

The teen made sure to save the number in her phone and smiled more when she saw the smile emoji.

When she made her way back downstairs, her father got a good look at her face. His eyes widened as he took her shoulders in his hands.

"Jesus Bella, **what happened**?" Charlie asked worriedly.

Bella was confused for a moment, not realizing what he had been talking about until she touched the side of her face. She squinted her eyes at the tight feeling but otherwise it felt fine. It probably looked real bad though. Bella didn’t want to tell her father what had happened the night before, that would just open a while can of worms that she didn’t want to open at the moment. So she just waved it off and said.

"I took a nasty fall yesterday while I was shopping with Angela and Jessica. My cheek landed on my hand and I got a nasty bruise." Bella was astounded at how good she sounded telling this horrid lie.

Charlie seemed to buy it however and let the matter drop. He thankfully didn’t comment on how clumsy she was.

"What did you buy yesterday anyway?"

Bella spent the day showing her dad the outfit that she was going to wear to the spring formal at school. He seemed very proud of his daughter and smiled at her. She told him about the rest of the shopping trip yesterday, minus the library and Alice part, and the two just hung out for a little while. Bella went back up to her room to call Renee after a few hours passed and the mother and daughter pair talked for about 45 minutes.

She rehashed all of the details about yesterday, again minus the library and Alice bits, and took a few pictures of her in the suit she had bought. Renee was on the phone crying tears of joy at how grown up her little girl was becoming.

After a few moments of hearing her mother crying, Renee threw a question at Bella, one the teen was surprised to hear.

"Sooo, tell me about this Alice person. Have you two gotten a little closer?" Bella could practically hear her mothers eyebrows raising and lowering in jest. She blushed beet red and told her about the recent developments in their friendship. Bella told her mother all of the ordinary things about the pixie, even though the other girl was far from ordinary.

Her voice still had that blissful tone to it, and when she was done speaking, Renee chuckled.

"My Bella has it bad."

Bella rolled her turquoise eyes at her mothers antics and sighed into the microphone. They talked for a few more moments and said their goodbyes. By the time she had gotten off the phone with her mother, it was the early afternoon; but at about 2:15, Bella heard her phone ring with a phone call. Sure enough it was Alice.

"Hi." Bella said smiling into the receiver.

"Hello Bella." Alice replied. Bella could hear the smile in the other girl's voice. "Come to the window." Alice once again spoke.

Doing as she was told, the brunette went over to the window and opened it. She saw the Cullen standing next to what appeared to be a Lincoln town car. It was another expensive vehicle that the Cullen's owned. She guessed being the daughter of a doctor had certain perks.

Bella leaned out the window in the same light purple camisole and smiled down at Alice.

"And what can I do for you today Ms. Cullen?" Bella asked in a sultry tone. She could see the effect it had on Alice from her window and she was very pleased with herself.

"Well," Alice said after taking a deep calming breath. "You can do me the honor of gracing me with your presence today."

The teen bit her lip at the response she was given. Remembering what had happened this morning was still fresh in her mind and she wanted more. Bella pushed herself off of the windowsill and made her way to the closet to find something to wear. Once the outfit was picked out, she dressed and moments later, the doorbell rang. Bella raced down the stairs to answer it but Charlie had beaten her to it.

"Hi Mr. Swan. I'm Alice Cullen." Alice put on her best mega-watt smile and Charlie was instantly hooked by her charm. She was polite and reached out her hand for him to shake.

"Ah yes, Carlisle's daughter." Charlie grabbed her hand and shook it. If he was bothered by the cold skin, he didn’t show it.

"Is it okay if Bella comes over to my house today. My dad wants to make sure that everything is in order with her recovery." Alice turned her attention to Bella at the middle step and winked at her. Bella blushed brightly and looked to her father for an answer.

The mention of Carlisle checking on her recovery progress however was the only explanation he needed. Charlie nodded vigorously and turned to look at Bella. Thankfully the bruise wasn’t as bad as it had been earlier. It was fading quite nicely.

"You bet! Have a good time Bella." Charlie smiled at his daughter and kissed her on the forehead before letting her and her companion leave.

As they descended the front steps, Bella reached over and took Alice's hand in her own. Intertwining their fingers and latching on to her as if her life depended on it. Alice smiled and walked her mate over to the town car. Bella turned and leaned back against the passenger side door waiting for Alice to kiss her once again. It was like her lips were yearning for a repeat of this morning.

"Calm down, kitten. Your dad is still watching us." The pixie warned her. As Bella's gaze went to the window in the front door, sure enough, there was Charlie's deep brown eyes staring back.

Bella blew out a puff of air before turning around and opening the door of the very expensive car. Sitting down in the seat, she sank into the expensive leather. Alice got into the driver seat and relaxed instantly next to her mate. Turning to her, she smiled before leaning forward and touching her forehead to Bella's. Breathing in her scent made her feel so calm and sure of anything.

"I have a surprise for you." Alice spoke.

Bella closed her eyes at the feeling of the pixie's voice washing over her. Covering her like a thick blanket. At first she was unsure about whatever surprise Alice had in store for her; she didn’t like surprises in general, but Alice sounded so sure of herself so she let her insecurity go.

"Okay." Bella said with a lazy smile.

Alice started the car and drove off seconds later. Making sure to keep her eyes on the road, Alice felt the warmth of Bella's hand in her own again. Other than kissing her, holding hands was the best feeling to the vampire. It made her feel safe and confident about everything in her life. Alice drove at a human pace and the pair arrived at their destination soon after they had left the house.

Bella was confused for a moment because it was the entrance to a park trail.

Alice opened her door and got out of the car before stretching her limbs. Bella followed suit and stood next to the shorter girl. For effect, Alice stretched her legs out and watched as bright green eyes trailed her entire body. The pixie beckoned Bella forward with a single curl of her index finger.

Bella's footsteps were light and free as she walked closer to Alice. The pixie held out her arms and said,

"C'mere." Bella stepped into Alice's personal space and a second later she felt her feet leave the ground entirely.

She yelped a little as she quickly wrapped her arms around Alice's neck. With the slight height difference, it was a little awkward but only just so. Alice held her top half in one arm and her legs in the other arm. Bella was being held bridal style and she loved it. Being this close to the Cullen brought back memories of the night prior and Bella blushed.

"You okay?" Alice asked making sure that her mate was comfortable in her arms. The teen only nodded, not exactly trusting her voice. "Put your face in the crook of my neck." Bella did as she was told and her nose tickled at the slight coldness of the other girl's skin. She breathed in once and realized how good Alice smelled.

Alice took off a moment later and sped off with Bella in her arms. The brunette had no time to react and was thankful that she kept her arms tightly wrapped around Alice's neck. She could feel her hair whip around in the wind and it felt like she was on a roller coaster. Her stomach did some flipflops but otherwise it was fine.

The ride was over too soon for Bella's liking but when they arrived at the next stop, she opened her eyes and turned her face out of Alice's neck. She gasped at the sight before her as her eyes took in the picturesque scene of a field with tons of purple and blue wild flowers. The weather was still slightly cold from the winter months, but the grass and tiny colored flowers were growing in unhindered.

Alice put her mate down on the ground as the other girl stared in wonder at the sight before her.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" She asked as she walked into the open field.

Bella took a moment to answer, but walked over to Alice and wrapped her arms around her thin waist. She looked straight into the caramel eyes and said clear as day.

"Sure, but it's still not a pretty as you, Alice."

Alice giggled.

"Call me Ali."

Unsure of what to do next, Bella leaned down and kissed Alice again. Her mind was telling her that she really wanted to talk to Alice more. She wanted to learn more about who she was; more about her past and how she came to be here. Her body however had different ideas. As they kissed Alice began to do something a little unusual, but cute all at the same time. She began to purr. Bella could feel the rumble against her lips and it tickled slightly so she smiled. It was only until the human needed air that they separated again.

"You purr." Bella said. It wasn’t really a question, but an observation.

If Alice could blush she would as she scratched an invisible itch on her cheek.

"Yeah, that's new."

Bella laughed as she hugged Alice close to her. After a few moments, they sat down on the ground and looked at the sky. It was an overcast day but there were no signs of rain or foul weather. Each of them laid there for a few minutes in silence, trying to find out what to talk about.

"So, when did you and your family move here?" Bella asked finally breaking the ice.

"We moved here about two years ago. Its funny because I had a vision of you and I in the forest one day."

The teen looked confused at first and then she remembered the day when she took a walk in the light rainfall. It was the week Alice had been absent from school. Bella remembered reciting the words to Romeo and Juliet and also remembered hearing a light whispering voice.

"That was you." She said with a sudden revelation.

"Guilty." Alice said as she turned onto her side. Her head was in the palm of her hand and her elbow was snug firmly in the grass.

"I always loved the rain, even when I was young."

"Tell me about Alice Cullen as a little girl." Bella requested smiling at the pixie. Her hands were folded nicely on her stomach and she could feel the butterflies flying around as she looked into Alice's eyes.

The vampire got real quiet and somber for a moment before telling her story. Sure, it wasn’t exactly a happy one but there were a few times when Alice would smile and laugh at the certain antics she got into as a child. Alice told Bella how she ended up in the asylum and about the caretaker who watched over her. The red-eyed man with a heart of gold and pale brown skin. She told Bella how she met the Cullen's years later and about her time in Denali, Alaska.

It was a story that Bella longed to hear about from the small Cullen and hung on Alice's every word.

Alice got up after telling Bella all that she could without revealing her true nature. She held out a pale hand to her mate and Bella took it without question. The sky above them was getting darker with clouds and as they wandered back to the car, Alice let go of Bella's hand and disappeared. It was now time. The pixie knew that Bella knew what she was. It was only a matter of the girl saying it out loud.

At first Bella was confused as to Alice's actions, but she wasn’t afraid. The girl knew what Alice and the rest of the Cullen's were. As Alice perched herself in a large tall tree, she quieted her breathing and stilled her shivering hands. It was now or never. Minutes passed as they played this game of cat and mouse. Bella looked all over for Alice. She looked both high and low, but she couldn’t find her; she couldn’t hear her or see her. Not one ounce of Alice was noticeable to Bella and her heart began to race. She didn’t want to be left alone, but she knew that the small girl was near by.

Thunder echoed in the distance signaling the presence of a storm.

"You're impossibly fast, and strong. Your skin is pale white and ice cold. Your eyes change color. You never eat or drink anything." Bella heard the slight crunch of branches and leaves behind her. She felt someone breathing behind her. The teen knew it was Alice so she continued with her findings.

"Your skin shines in the sunlight so you only go out when its cloudy." She let out a deep breath of her own as she heard Alice's footsteps coming closer. Bella made no move to turn around, she just stood there and asked a question.

"How old are you?"

After what seemed like forever, Alice finally spoke.

"I'm 19."

Bella was surprised by this answer but asked again.

"How long have you been 19?"

The Cullen breathed out through her nose.

"A while."

Everything stopped as everything came together. Every piece of the giant puzzle that was Alice Cullen was finally put in it's place. Bella wanted to turn around. She wanted to look Alice in the eyes as she told her what she was; as she finally uttered the word that she had been longing to say. Something stopped her though. It wasn’t Alice, there wasn’t anything holding her back, but Bella stayed still, rooted to that very spot.

"I know what you are."

Alice breathed in through her mouth and out through her nose. Other than the sound of the distant thunder and the sound of their own breathing, it was silent.

"Say it; out loud" She said after moments had passed.

The silence and the tension was palpable. You could feel it in the air; you could cut it with a knife. Alice was silently begging for Bella to tell her what she was. She was begging to hear what she knew Bella knew.

"Say it." Alice dry sobbed. The pain in her eyes grew again as she waited on the edge for her mate to utter the word.

" _Vampire_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Dun Dun....what will Alice do next? What will the next few moments have in store for the pair?


	17. The Lioness and the Lamb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice is plagued with a certain set of visions that sends into a sorrowful frenzy. Trying to make Bella see that she is dangerous, she explains to her mate all of the things wrong with a human and vampire relationship. Will Bella take the bait? Doubtful.

"Are you afraid?" The pixie asked after Bella had time to process her own words. She looked at the ground and down at the shoes she was wearing. Shifting her feet, she could feel Bella turning around and looking at her. Alice was afraid of the answer. Now that her mate finally knew what she was, would she run away? Would she never speak to Alice again? Would her family have to move again because of a mistake she had made?

It was as if her human mother were watching over her in that moment because Bella's strong arms wrapped around her shoulders just then and pulled her in for a hug. Her soothing voice reached her ears as she said.

"No. I'm not afraid of you." Bella said this without hesitation. She knew there were other things to talk about; like what her diet was and how big her family actually was; but now was the time for collection and processing.

Alice's body tensed as she was plagued with visions. Visions of Bella, her suffering, her death, of her hatred. She pushed the taller girl away as the scenes ended. The seer could hear the screams of her mate now echoing through her ears, ringing through them like a loud alarm. Alice in turn screamed and covered her ears. The tear ducts in her eyes burned and burned as the seconds passed by.

She began to swagger off into the forest with Bella of course hot on her tail. Alice walked faster and faster trying to regain her strength from the onslaught of agony she had just witnessed. Bella ran up to the pixie vampire and gripped her wrist.

"Alice wait!" Alice wrenched her hand free from Bella's warm touch, even though her heart wanted to stay there forever.

"Ask me the most basic question: What do we eat?" The Cullen then turned to her and let her fangs out with a deafening click. It was the first time in a long time that any human had seen them, but she needed Bella to understand what she was getting herself into. She would never have a normal life if she chose this path. She would never be free of danger.

"You won't hurt me." Bella said confidently.

Alice released a wet chuckle as she released a sob from her throat.

In her mindset, she angrily-yet gently-threw Bella onto her back and raced up the mountain.

"Where are we going?" Bella asked, barely having enough time to wrap her arms around Alice's neck.

"Up the mountain and out of the clouds." Alice said as she continued racing up the hill.

Alice could see the rays of sunshine peek through the trees as she let her mate down onto the ground once more. She began to unbutton the blouse she was in, forgetting that Bella had already seen her in the sun.

She stepped into the light and once again her skin began to sparkle.

"It's like diamonds." Bella said as she gazed at the perfection before her.

"This is why we don’t go out in the sun; people would know we were different."

After a moment of just looking at Alice's flawless skin, Bella spoke again.

"You're beautiful."

Alice then thought of the death of her mother and how it had been her fault. Her skin was bullet proof and yet her mother had stepped out in front of the pistol shot aimed at her by her very own father.

She chuckled ruefully.

"Beautiful? This is the skin of a killer, Bella." Alice said as she stepped down from her perch and buttoned her blouse back up. 

Alice was out of sight for maybe a minute before Bella raced after her again. She looked at the ground, making sure not to trip over any hidden tree trunks, loose or fallen branches, etc.

"I'm a killer!" She yelled as she heard the teen's fumbling steps behind her.

"I don't believe that." Bella said calmly, getting closer to the somehow distraught vampire. She didn’t know what Alice had seen, but it was enough to change her entire demeanor.

"What you believe is a lie, it's all camouflage. You don’t get it, I'm the world's most dangerous predator." Alice breathed in heavily through her mouth trying to calm herself down.

"Everything about me is meant to draw you in; my voice, my looks, even my smell. As if I would need any of that." She blurred away seconds later.

In another tree she stood and screamed.

"As if you could outrun me!" The vampire jumped down and disappeared again. Bella tried to make her eyes keep up with her but it was to no avail. Alice showed up again behind her and reached into the large gap in the tree.

"As if you could fight me off." Alice reached for a branch and pulled roughly revealing a whole other part of the tree. With her superior strength, Alice broke it and threw it to the side with ease.

"I'm designed to kill. All of us are."

Bella shook her head. Defiantly, she said.

"I don’t care."

Alice looked her straight in the eye and then said the one thing she never thought she would.

"I've killed people before. I killed my own father when he shot my mother. I drank his blood and enjoyed it." 

After the vision, she couldn’t think. All rational thought left her mind. All that she could think of was trying to frighten Bella, to make her see that being with her was a very bad idea. It would lead to nothing but pain.

It wasn’t enough to throw her human off however.

"I trust you." She said confidently. All three words she said were true. She trusted Alice with every _fiber_ of her being.

"Don't." Alice said as she got closer into Bella's personal space.

The human's heart raced in anticipation. She wasn’t scared, she was turned on. Maybe she was secretly a masochist, maybe she enjoyed the fantasy of it all, but her body was responding in ways she wouldn’t have thought possible.

"I'm here, I trust you." Bella said as Alice jumped from branch to branch again then stopped to one just above her head.

The pixie's back was against the tree and her knees were brought up to her chest. She looked frightened almost, but was she scared of her own nature or of Bella's reaction? Alice rocked back and forth on the branch, wrapping her arms around her knees.

"My family; we're different from our kind-we only hunt animals. We've learned to control our thirst." Alice stood up slowly and then crouched on the branch, gripping the others at her sides tightly. "It's you. Everything about you, your scent, your presence; it's like a drug to me."

She paused for a moment, looking deep into Bella's green eyes, drowning in them.

"You're like my very own personal brand of Heroine."

Alice climbed down from her high perch and down to a lower branch. Bella got up on an upturned root and nestled herself between Alice's legs. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach turn into a fire. A passionate one that made its way down to her center.

"What was that day in the cafeteria? The first time our eyes really met."

"I don't know what that was. I almost couldn’t control myself that day. All I knew was that I wanted you so badly. The other's had to drag me out. I'm not even sure if I can control myself around you _**now**_."

Bella blushed as she took in the information. Did Alice want her just as badly as she wanted Alice? The teen now looked at Alice's lips, desperately wanting to kiss her again. Alice's mind however was still in a fragile state. The vampire ducked under the branch next to her and dropped down onto the ground. Alice needed to think. She needed to process everything. She wanted everything to make sense again.

Her visions were sometimes a curse and this was one of those times. Everything was going fine until she had that damned vision. Bella was accepting of her, Alice was being held in her mate's arms, she felt whole; and now everything was so messed up. Why was she trying to scare Bella off when she was the one thing she needed? It was because of her fragile human nature. If she lost control of her thirst or her passion for her mate she could easily kill her. That frightened her more than any monster story.

The ground shifted making her aware of Bella behind her.

"I'm not a mind reader and even if I was I wouldn’t be able to read your mind. I can't tell what you're thinking." Alice said as she cornered Bella against a large tree.

"I'm thinking that I'm scared."

Upon hearing the words Alice took a step back. Her chest hurt and she felt like she was fighting a whole army of other vampires by herself.

"Good."

"I'm not afraid of you." It was Bella's turn to once again be in Alice's bubble, hoping to not be pushed away again.

"I'm only afraid of losing you. I feel like you're going to disappear." The human finished.

Alice looked down at Bella's mouth and watched as the breath went in and out of those parted lips. She leaned against the other tree behind her and reached her hand up to touch Bella's chest. She felt the loud heartbeat under her hand and it was like music to her ears. Alice shook her head before saying,

"You don’t know how long I've waited for you."

The vampire gave up the fight against her silent heart and now knew that Bella was the one person that could awaken her soul. Bella looked into Alice's eyes and back down to her mouth. Her skin prickled against the cold skin of Alice's hand on her chest, but it made her feel wanted. It made her feel whole. It made her feel safe and secure; everything she had ever wanted before.

"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb."

"I'm not a stupid lamb." Bella said in jest.

"You're a sick masochistic lion."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a chapter that was originally supposed to be with the last one but it would've been too long so I split it up.


	18. Family Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter starts with Alice and Bella confirming their relationship and then it goes to the Cullen home for some Family shenanigans. It's a tad long but it was so easy to go on and on about what a family of vampires might do when they're not at school or at work.

The two girls walked down the mountain and back to the car that Alice had picked Bella up in. In truth, it was Carlisle's car. She told her father on how she was going to spend the day with Bella and he said to borrow the black town car because it was a little less flashy that her own Porsche. Alice loved driving that car. She loved opening up the throttle and speed down the open road. Usually she had the windows down so the wind would flow through her hair.

Driving back to Bella's house was quiet, but reasonably so. No word needed saying as everything was now out in the open. Alice's hand reached out to Bella's and they held hands for the entirety of the ride.

The vampire drove slowly, even if it wasn’t in her nature to do so. She wanted more time with Bella. Alice told her everything after her long and scary outburst. She told Bella her fears, her hopes, and about every vision she'd ever had about her. Being a vampire gave the pixie a perfect memory. She didn’t forget a single thing. Alice also told her about the electro-shock therapy she had received in the asylum. Bella was confused that she had remembered her human-life, so Alice explained what had happened the night she had returned to Biloxi. She explained how she got her memory back and how her mother and father died.

Bella was kind and never judged Alice on her past actions. It didn’t matter to the human. The only thing that mattered now was the future.

As the Lincoln town car reached Bella's house, both girls were sad to part.

Alice brought their joined hands up to her lips and kissed Bella's lightly.

"Can I come by later?"

Bella smiled at the question and said. "Sure. I'd like that." She knew that Alice had a lot more to say and in her fragile mind state, she knew that her pixie needed someone there for her. Bella leaned in and kissed the cold lips and said her goodbyes. She still sat in the car, not wanting to move.

"I'll see you again when you've gone to bed, Bella."

"That's so far away." Bella pouted.

It was now Alice's turn to lean in and kiss away the frown that made its home on Bella's mouth.

"Just think about how I feel. Time passes so slow for a vampire." Alice groaned and rubbed her forehead.

"What do you do to pass the time?"

That ensued a whole other conversation. Alice talked about how she practiced several instruments, but her favorite was the violin. She was probably going to agonize over that tonight and for the foreseeable future. There was also the options of playing chess with either Jasper or Edward. It was hard to win against either of them because of their gifts. Edward could win just by peeking into your mind.

Kate and Emmett liked to wrestle and play video games. Emmett would often lose and break something or another. Kate would shock you and make you mess up, but she didn’t use it on Alice because of her sensitivity to it. Tanya, Irina, and Rosalie were the shoppers of the family. Carmen would sometimes indulge in a little frivolous spending also but not very often. She would train her gift with Eleazar. He could sense the gifts in everyone. He could tell that she was a seer just by looking at her.

Esme, sweet lovable Esme, loved to cook and make up plans for new designs for the house. It seemed odd for a vampire to keep her cooking skills sharp, for no one would be around to eat it, but there was always something she was whipping up in the kitchen. Some things she would send the kids to school with; brownies or some sort of baked good. They were often a big hit with bake sales and first day of school gifts. The matriarch also made several additions to the house in the two years they had been in Forks. To Bella, Esme sounded like one of those moms that would hug you and love on you the moment you stepped into the house.

Carlisle often worked at the hospital, but he was never really far from Esme's side when he was home. He helped her in the kitchen, sat with her in the sun room reading, and went on hunting dates with her when they needed to feed. He was a doting father also, a much better one than what she was given in her human life.

The sun was setting as Alice finished gushing about her family. She sheepishly looked out the windshield and gripped the steering wheel.

"Sorry. I get a little carried away when it comes to my family sometimes."

Bella reached over and stroked her hair.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Ali. I get that you're close to them. I call my mom probably three times a week for an update on her life. She calls me the other two times to check up on me." Both girls laughed at the statement.

"You should hear how many times she asks about you." Bella said without realizing it.

She covered her mouth as the words escaped.

"Oh? You talk about me a lot?" Alice asked teasingly.

"Do you know what you'll tell her the next time you two talk?"

Bella looked out the window. "I really don’t know Alice. I like you a lot and I want to get to know you and your family better." She turned back towards the pixie and looked down at the light pink lips. "I really want to keep kissing you too."

Alice looked at her mate with heavy lidded eyes.

"Be with me, Bella." The vampire said.

Bella forgot how to think for a moment. She forgot how to breathe and how to speak. How could someone so perfect, a being of absolute beauty want to be with someone so plain and boring like her? Bella really didn’t see herself as special or important in any way, but here Alice was, asking her to be with her.

"You're serious?" Bella asked after what seemed like hours.

Alice nodded.

"There are a few more things to explain about us, but the fact of the matter is, I can't stand to be away from you. I cant even think about someone else kissing you, touching you, saving you, having you, other than me. You're my person Bella."

Bella never forgot the words that Alice had said in the forest. How she was her own personal brand of heroine. It was a shock. It made her feel good. It made her feel wanted and sexy. It made her feel needed.

"I think I've waited my entire life to hear those words." She said in awe.

Alice leaned in and kissed Bella full on the lips. She made sure not to crush the girl with her full weight and braced herself against the door behind Bella's back. The human moaned against her lips and the passion held in that one sound was enough to drive Alice crazy. They separated when Bella needed air and Alice held herself back from going in for more.

"I'll see you soon?" Bella asked as she reached for the handle to the door.

"Count on it." Alice said with a wink.

She watched Bella walk up the stairs and in through the door to her house. Breathing a sigh of relief, she gripped the steering wheel and sped off into the distance. Her mind and body were a livewire now and she needed to expel some of the chaotic energy she held inside. Although vampires never tire, it was good for them to train their bodies every now and then.

When she arrived back home, she immediately went to the back yard and saw Emmett training with Kate and Tanya. The two blondes were way older than the taller teen and made sure that he knew it. Although Emmett had more muscle, they had the experience. Alice decided to join in the fray and slapped him upside the head. It was hard enough for the burly man to take notice.

"Hey!" Emmett exclaimed. "What was that for?"

"I want to try and take you guys down a peg or five." Alice looked to the three siblings standing in front of her and placed her feet shoulder-width apart. She brought her hands up into a defense position and waited for one of them to move.

Her brother of course had been the one to move first. Alice could read his moves without using her gift. Any vampire could really. He was confident and headstrong; that's what made him such a sore loser. Alice laughed as he tried to charge into her, but she did a graceful ballerina spin to avoid his hold. Emmett was quick however and brought his fist back behind him to strike her against the face. He was getting smarter.

Alice's graceful body was too fast for him however and she did a full flip over the massive arm coming toward her.

Emmett growled at the fleeting girl and bounced on the balls of his feet. He was trying to be patient and wait for Alice to move but it was proving difficult. Carlisle was trying to teach him how to be more patient, to control the fight, but he was a fighter, not a thinker.

Thankfully Tanya was the next to try and strike Alice down. She raced forward and the tips of her fingers touched the delicate material of the pixie's blouse. Alice tsked and wiggled her finger teasingly at the blonde. Tanya smirked at her and disappeared seconds later. Out of everyone in the family, there were three who had superior speed. The first was Tanya, with her age and experience, then it was Edward, and finally it was Alice, with her smaller body.

Tanya moved with a grace and speed far better than Alice's in every way. She literally disappeared from view. Alice couldn’t see her or hear her. The blonde did make a sound; she just waited for Alice to make one wrong move with Emmett and then she would have her dead to rights.

With the distraction from the Denali vampire, Emmett made his move. He made a forward jab and caught Alice just on the chin. A loud crack was heard as the vampire fist met the other's skin. There was a slight grunt of pain from the pixie but nothing she hadn't bared before. Emmett was about to charge again when he felt the slight shock of Kate's gift on the back of his neck.

"Two against one isn't very fair odds." The vegetarian said with a bright smile.

Grateful for the challenge, Emmett turned his sights once again on his sister in law.

That left only Tanya and Alice to duke it out. She was a little miffed at her sister for stealing the big lug from the fight but she guessed she would have to make due. Alice looked up and saw Tanya perched upon a thin high branch. Luckily it was holding her weight and she looked down at the pixie.

"Come on now, Little One. Let's see how you fare in the trees."

Alice knew where this was going and looked forward to it. With their grace and speed the Cullen's trained in the trees with Tanya and Irina. Alice jumped onto the trunk and climbed briskly wanting to win this bout. She knew the odds were against her though. This was something that the older blonde excelled at. It was like she had been a squirrel before she was human.

When she reached the top of her tree, she said.

"Same rules apply."

"Whoever falls first, loses." Tanya had agreed.

It was like a game the girl's played. Some human girls would go shopping together or do each others make-up, but these two, they trained together. They pushed each other to be better fighters. Or rather Tanya pushed Alice to be a better fighter. When the seer had told the story of her mate being a human, the elder formally took her under her wing and taught her most of what she knew about combat.

Alice bounced on her feet to test the strength of the branch she was standing on. It didn’t crack under her so she nodded thoughtfully. Tanya could feel her branch getting weaker under her and knew it would snap any second, so she moved quickly to another one. Alice followed instantly not wanting to lose sight of the other woman. When they stopped, they faced one another again, but this time, Tanya made a defensive pose and beckoned her forward with her hand.

Eager to take her sister down a peg or two, Alice kicked at the blondes feet trying to make her fall. Then she threw a front jab, while she was distracted. Tanya laughed as she quickly avoided all of Alice's potential blows. Not one to be outdone, the blonde moved her feet to try and kick at the pixie's. A smile made it's way to her face as her opponent avoided being thrown off. She was learning well.

Each vampire moved with precision and grace, sidestepping and avoiding blows that would be fatal to another being. They fought for hours, and would've worked up quite a sweat had they been human. Tanya lost her footing for half of a second before righting herself. It left Alice with an opening she couldn’t pass up and threw a right hook across the beautiful porcelain skin. Another loud crack sounded throughout the trees and it made some of the birds and animals scatter away. Alice smiled confidently but knew that Tanya had to fall for her to lose, so she kept her guard up.

Tanya collapsed against the tree and looked down at the branch that Alice was standing on. It was a pretty sturdy one and would last the whole rest of the fight. The blonde had a feeling that she might actually lose if it went on any longer. She looked around for a weaker one and found her quarry a few trees to the right of her position. She let Alice have her tiny victory but that would be the last one she had today.

Getting up and dusting off her jeans, Tanya went back to throwing kicks and punches. She wasn’t trying to hit Alice, just get her to where she wanted her to be. She did land one however in Alice's midsection. The seer doubled over from the impact and almost fell. She gained her balance quickly however and kept moving around every other blow.

After a few more moments of attacking and defending, Tanya abruptly stopped. There was no warning; no surrender, she just stopped. Alice put down her arms and wondered if she was getting hungry.

"Do you need to go hunt?" She asked.

There was no answer. Alice then snapped her fingers in front of the blondes face. A few more times and that’s when Tanya flinched her face towards her making it look like she was going to headbutt Alice.

Alice's arms flailed behind her as she tried to find something to keep her from falling. Her hands found a branch but it was too weak to hold her weight. The pixie yelled as her branch broke making her fall that great distance to the ground. She hit the ground with a loud thud and Emmett and Kate hissed through their teeth. Sure it looked painful, but the only thing that hurt on Alice was her pride. She wasn’t a sore loser by any means and she knew when she had been beaten, but it still sucked.

Tanya climbed down from the treetops like an acrobat on a trapeze. For flourish, she swung from the last branch and did a flip, and stuck the landing. Emmett and Kate clapped impressed at the display.

"I give it a 6 out of 10." Kate uttered and Emmett nodded his head in agreement.

"You cheated." Alice said with a grumble and a pout.

Kate laughed and went to her best friend. Throwing her arm around Alice's shoulder she said.

"She's only on point because her and Edward had a little 'alone time' this weekend."

Tanya heard the comment and slapped her sister on the arm. Each of the four could hear Edward yell a 'hey' in the sun room where he played chess with Jasper. Each game the two ever played ended in a stalemate. None of them could beat the other but they sure could beat every one else in the family. There was one time that Edward even beat Carlisle at a game of chess. That was a day none of the Cullen's forgot.

Alice walked in the house and saw Esme sitting on the chaise in the living room watching a crime show on television. She immediately went over and began to cuddle with her mother. Esme smiled and wrapped her arms around Alice holding her in a tight, motherly embrace. The family went and did their own thing before they hunted for the week. Alice mostly stayed at Esme's side and just kept cuddling and watching T.V.

When it got dark, Alice, Edward, Rosalie, and Jasper all went hunting together. While Rose preferred mountain lion the others weren't so picky. The blonde girl heard a threatening growl of her prey not long after they left the house. She pounced on the creature and tussled with it for a little while. Alice thinks its mostly the fight that works up her appetite.

Alice heard the slight crunch of light footsteps. There were a lot of them. That meant there was a herd of deer nearby. Alice and the others raced after the sound, leaving Rosalie to contend with her own meal. When the group spotted the large herd, there was one particular buck that looked pretty tasty. Alice licked her lips and waited for the perfect opportunity. They were located next to a stream so it was when the buck went down to take a drink that she made her move.

Blurring out toward her prey, Alice gripped the antlers before it had any time to react and broke the animals neck quickly. She didn’t want it to suffer any more than it had too. The other deer in the area scattered and the boys then had their fill. They didn’t go after any females that had young fawns with them. Alice quickly released her fangs and plunged them into the thick hide of the buck, drinking greedily. She could feel her hunger being satiated with each pull of blood.

There were times when they would bring the carcasses of their catch back to Esme so that she could freeze them and make a pot of venison stew later for any of the potlucks the kids would have at school. This was one of those times. When she and her brothers were done, Alice picked up the dead deer and carried it all the way back to the house.

It wasn’t long before they found Rosalie again. Her clothes were torn to shreds, but at least she still had them on. The blonde was covered in blood, being a messy eater and all. The four then walked back home to either find their mates or find something else to do before it came time to start the school week again.

Alice made sure not to bring the corpse of the deer into the house. It was still covered in either dirt, fleas, or both, and God forbid if Esme came home to a dirty house. Speaking of the redheaded woman she raced back beating Carlisle by a mere second. The couple smiled at each other and kissed on the lips before turning their gazes to the 'catch of the day.'

"Oh my." Esme said looking at the large buck Alice had brought home. "We'll have that frozen in no time." She raced to the kitchen and got her butchering knives out from the drawer.

Seeing that they were dreadfully dull, Esme got the honing rod out as well and sharpened her steel. Alice, Edward, and Jasper brought in their catch and laid them down on the tile floor. Edward was eager to return to Tanya for some more 'alone time', as Kate called it. Esme just shooed him away and told him that he could help her clean up later.

Jasper was also ready to turn in for the night with a good book. He was also sent away and quickly ran up the stairs. Rosalie and Alice were the only two left behind, but upon seeing her blonde daughter in such a disheveled state, she literally had to set down her fillet knife and push her up the stairs for her to shower and get dressed. Alice knew her sister was going to shower, but getting dressed really depended on Emmett's mood. She gagged thinking of the two doing the horizontal mambo and thanked whatever deity for soundproofing. It was one of the first plans Esme put into the house.

After Rosalie was gone, Alice sat on the stool in the kitchen and watched her mother butcher the buck and the other two dead females. It was fascinating to watch how meticulously she worked. She was so precise in the craft that there was nothing left to waste. Esme even took the horns of the buck and set them aside for a later project.

"You're amazing mom." Alice said as Esme washed her hands.

Edward could be heard coming down the stairs and he entered the kitchen with a wet vacuum. Esme scrubbed her hands with soap and water. Alice moved over to help Edward clean up the mess, following him with a dry towel, and wondered just how much Esme could do. With being a vampire and a housewife, it left a lot of free time.

"If you want, I can teach you how to cook for Bella." The woman said as she dried her hands with another free towel.

Alice perked up at the offer and nodded her head. When the kitchen was finally clean, Alice went up to her room and took her phone out from her pocket. Looking at the screen, she saw a couple of text messages from Bella.

Bella: **Hey. I hope you made it home okay.**

The message was sent a little before she started her training session with Tanya and she instantly felt the sting of regret for not replying sooner.

Bella: **What are you up to?**

This one was sent just before she had gotten home from her hunt. Alice immediately raced up the stairs and brushed her teeth, hoping that her breath didn’t smell like blood. She rinsed her mouth out as well for good measure, and called Bella as soon as she was done. Her mate's phone rang and went to voicemail.

She didn’t bother leaving one and raced down the stairs again, out the front door towards Bella's house.

"Just be home in time to get ready for school!" Esme called after her.

Alice raced through the forest and arrived in record time. She gracefully climbed the tree and found Bella's window already open. The pixie looked at her mate snuggled underneath her comforter and smiled sweetly. She made her entrance and shut the window quietly before laying on the plush blanket next to her love.

Watching her sleep was a gift in itself, but Alice couldn’t resist moving a strand of hair to the back of Bella's head. This caused her human to stir and awaken. Crisp, green eyes opened and Bella smiled at the sight in front of her.

"Hey." She said sleepily.

"Hey yourself. Sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner, I was having some family time." Alice replied.

Bella yawned loudly but sat up anyway. The comforter above her fell down and showed her pajama top. It was nothing but an oversized husky shirt. It was a tent on the girl, but she couldn’t look any cuter than she did right now.

"Tell me about your day." The human asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Alice smiled and reached out for Bella's shoulder, directing her back to lay down on the bed.

"I will tomorrow." She lightly kissed the lips beneath her and wrapped Bella once more in her sheets.

Bella tried to put up a fight, she really wanted to hear about Alice's day, but her yawns kept getting more and more powerful by the second. Alice situated herself so that she was leaning against the headboard and brought her mate's head to her chest. Bella snuggled into the softness of the pixies bosom and was content to go back to sleep, unfazed by the chill coming from beneath the clothing Alice was wearing.

"I love you, Alice." Bella said before finally falling into that blissful slumber once more.

Alice just kept stroking the long brown hair on her chest, knowing that her human would probably forget those words in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this chapter, especially the Esme parts and the training session with Tanya. Since Alice was close with her human mother I really wanted to create a tight knit bond between her and her vampire mother. I'm very close with my mom so this was easy to write. As for training with Tanya, I wanted to portray more of her experience in battle and her combat prowess, so having her fight Alice high above the ground seemed correct and fun to write.


	19. I love Filler.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is mostly a filler chapter to add more content before Bella meets the rest of the family. Rachel's back near the end of this chapter and Rosalie gets a little protective of her sister's relationship with the human.

Bella walked out the door that Monday morning and saw the bright cherry red BMW convertible parked in front of her mailbox. It was nice enough for the canvas top to be down so the only thing she saw was her sexy vampire girlfriend in the front driver seat. Alice looked so cool with her fancy clothes and her large sun glasses. The pixie got out of the car and rushed up to Bella before kissing her soundly on the lips.

She seemed awfully chipper and honestly, Bella didn’t want her any other way. It made her sad to see Alice so self destructive the afternoon prior, but she knew that her vampire would have some sort of demons to work through. There was still a little time before they had to drive to school, so Bella dragged Alice up the stairs and entered the house once more. Charlie was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper and glanced up at the intrusion. Holding Alice's hand, Bella said with grace and confidence.

"Dad, this is my girlfriend, Alice." Charlie was taking a sip of his coffee just kept looking at his daughter without any surprise what so ever.

He nodded before saying.

"Okay." Charlie wasn’t the least surprised that his daughter was more attracted to the fairer sex. His ex-wife had called even before Bella came to live with him and told him. It was a heads up, but not one that he wasn’t expecting.

"Okay?" Bella asked slightly surprised at how calm her father was being. She had heard such horror stories about kids coming out to their parents and them being thrown out onto the street with nothing but the clothes on their backs. There was one of her guy friends that she had in Phoenix that was going through that very thing right before she moved.

Thinking about Luke made her sad that she couldn’t be there for him now. Bella really hoped he was doing well.

Charlie once again spoke up.

"Yeah. Okay." He paused to think of what kind of standards he would have to set in place with this new information.

"There are going to be some ground rules though. Some I would hope you and Alice would follow." Alice and Bella both agreed right away. "Well, first and foremost, there will be no more doors closed when Alice is over here. The second is that, if you two were to go out on a weeknight, you-" He pointed at the Cullen. "Will have her home at a reasonable hour, say 10 or 10:30, 10:45 latest. And the third rule-" Charlie got up from the chair at the table and walked up to Alice. Looking down at her, he said. "The third and most important rule is to not break my daughter's heart. Understand, Miss Cullen?"

There were times when Alice had been genuinely afraid, but those were few and far between. This was one of those times where, if she wasn’t a vampire, she would be quaking in her shoes.

"Crystal clear, sir." She said with a smile.

Charlie then began to chuckle and his stern face cracked into a smile.

"Good. Then it's alright for you to date my daughter Alice. Welcome to the family."

He held out his hand just like the time that they had met at the front door a couple of days ago.

"Call me Charlie."

Alice took his hand and shook it just like before. The girls left shortly after the confrontation and as they walked out the door, Charlie made sure to tell the pixie to follow the speed limit. Alice cracked a charming smile and grasped Bella's hand as they descended the stairs.

_______________________________________

Pulling into the school parking lot that day was a mission all in itself. There were many people gathered around in groups and they watched as Bella Swan and Alice Cullen pulled into the empty space near Emmett's Jeep. They each got out of their seats and Alice grabbed Bella's hand tightly but not too much.

"Ready?" She asked, making sure her mate was really okay with everything that was going on.

Bella just turned to her and smiled brightly. Her green eyes shined as she looked down and kissed her girlfriend lightly on the lips. She kept it chaste because she didn’t want to put on a show. Kissing Alice was a gift and shouldn’t be squandered. If Alice wanted to show some PDA then that was her choice.

"I was born ready, baby." The human then winked and they walked toward the double doors of the school.

Walking passed the slack-jawed and wide-eyed students, Bella saw Jessica and Angela with Mike and the others of their lunch group. She watched as Mike slipped each girl a twenty dollar bill. Apparently, there was a betting pool going on that they weren't aware of. The couple walked over to them and Bella said,

"What's going on over here?" She said with a little mirth.

"Oh nothing." Angela said smirking at the jock that just gave her money.

"We just had a little bet going on when you two would get together. Genius over here-" She said pointing at Mike. "Didn’t think it would ever happen. He lost, obviously."

Newton had his arms crossed over his chest and an angry pout over his face. Bella wondered for a moment if he was going to be trouble later down the line. Then the school bell rang and everyone went inside.

______________________________________

The rest of the week went by pretty quickly for the new couple. Every other day Alice picked Bella up from her house in either the BMW or the Volvo. It really depended on who was coming with that morning. Jasper, Irina, and Kate rode in the large vehicle on Wednesday and Bella smiled seeing the small group.

Thursday, Bella drove her truck to school and when she met up with her girlfriend, they hugged and sat in the bed of her truck. They chatted with their friends and each of them could see how cute the two girls were together. Bella being the taller of the two, was often behind Alice holding her around the waist and leaning her head on her shoulder. Sitting together at lunch was a treat as well. Whenever Bella would go over to the Cullen table, Alice would quickly pull her into her lap. Thankfully, the teen didn’t drop her lunch tray on the ground with the abrupt movement. This would last all of the lunch period.

The week was paradise in a nutshell. Each night Bella would fall into her bed with a blissful sigh, waiting for Alice to knock at her window. The nights were filled with whispers of sweet nothings, kisses, and cuddles. There wasn’t a night where Bella didn’t sleep in her loving vampires arms. Both Alice and Bella didn’t know what they had done right in this life to deserve such a person, but they relished their company and their love.

Friday came and when school had let out, Alice ushered her girlfriend to the car that she was driving that day; again it was Rosalie's BMW. The top was down so Alice jumped over the driver side door and situated herself into the leather seat. Bella smiled while opening the passenger side door and sighed as she sat down.

As they were putting on their seatbelts, Alice brought up something very important.

"So, the rest of my family really wants to meet you." The pixie said as the buckle clicked in place.

Bella paused for a second and thought about the other members of the Cullen family she had yet to formally meet. She was nervous, but not for the reason normal people would think. Sure, she was walking into a house with several blood sucking vampires, but she was also meeting the rest of her girlfriend's family. What if they didn’t like her? Bella thought to herself.

"What if they don't like me?" She voiced her concern seconds later.

Alice looked shocked at the human for a good long while before replying.

"You'd be walking into a house full of vampires and that's what you're most worried about? Their approval?" Bella nodded and then the pixie broke out into raucous laughter. She laughed so much that if she could cry tears would be spewing out of her eyeballs.

"What's the matter with that?" Bella asked, tensing up her body. She didn’t care to be made fun of, even if it was her girlfriend.

Alice could feel the atmosphere changing in the car and she immediately unbuckled her seatbelt and situated herself in Bella's lap. Without warning, she kissed her mate on the lips softly yet passionately; trying to convey how sorry she was. The kiss lasted longer than each girl had anticipated. With Alice on top of her girlfriend, the human began to grip at the denim clad thighs. The pixie moaned and began to grind her hips into Bella's which sent a chain reaction through her. Bella let out a gasp and breathed in through her nose. She didn’t want this moment to end. Alice began to purr and felt something being tossed at her head.

Feeling the small object hit her in the side of the head, she aggressively detached her lips from Bella's and roared at whoever had the audacity to interrupt their moment. Alice's pupils were dilated, almost black in color and her fangs were protruded. She didn’t want any threat to come between her and her mate. Alice growled at seeing Emmett and Rosalie standing by the Jeep they had driven to school. The large boy had another pebble in his hand, ready to toss once more.

When he saw Alice's protective state, Emmett's eyes widened and he went to get in the vehicle. Rosalie on the other hand just looked at the pair and shook her head. Thankfully any cars still in the lot were those of faculty members staying late to grade any test papers or homework assignments they had received.

Bella could see that her girlfriends body was coiled like a cobra ready to strike. Her body was heaving with unnecessary breaths and her eyes were still fixed upon the brother and sister that had interrupted them. She brought up a warm hand and settled it on the now familiar spot behind Alice's neck and began playing with the hair at the base. After a few moments of this, the vampire began to calm down. Her body slumped down on top of Bella's and her face was now in the crook of her mate's neck; breathing in her scent. No matter what state she was in, Alice could always find solace here with Bella.

She could feel the quickened pace of Bella's pulse beneath her lips as she pressed one single cold kiss to her neck. Bella sighed into the touch, yet desperately wanted to kiss Alice once more. She had never felt such a passion for another person before; never felt such a need to be connected with someone as much as she needed Alice. It was kind of scaring her a little bit but she didn’t care. She wouldn’t trade this life for the world.

_________________________________________________

Alice dropped Bella off at home promptly and sped home after giving her love a quick kiss goodbye. This kiss had been chaste as to not draw attention to themselves. That was the last thing they needed was to be caught by Charlie. When Bella walked through the door to her house, she was pleasantly surprised by the visitors that had been sitting in her kitchen. Billy and Rachel were sitting at the table playing a round of Poker with her father. Each had a killer poker face but upon further inspection, she found that the Elder Black had the superior hand.

Charlie was the first to call and when he did, so did Rachel. A pile of pennies littered the center of the table and Bella watched as both her friend and her father were taken down. Billy laughed as he reached forward and grabbed the giant pile of copper coins.

"How do you always win this game?" Rachel asks.

Billy looked to Bella and winked. She knew he was the dealer, and the rules always stated to never underestimate the dealer. Bella laughed as she went to the fridge to grab a bottle of grape juice. Untwisting the cap and taking a swig she watched as Rachel got up out of her seat, forgoing the next game. She went over to Bella and asked if they could go outside and talk for a bit. The teen nodded and followed her friend out the back door.

They stayed close to the house, but walked far enough to know that they would be uninterrupted.

Bella put her hands in her sweater pockets and Rachel put hers in her back pockets. Each girl knew that Bella knew what the Cullen's were now and it was all thanks to the one walking next to her. But the question now was, how did Rachel know about the Cullen's? Did they meet up with them before? Did they break some kind of rule in coming back to Forks? There were a lot of questions swimming around in her head. Thankfully, Rachel took pity on her and spoke up.

"To be honest, I didn’t really think you would take my words to heart. I didn’t think you'd actually figure it out." The Black said as she looked down at the ground.

The black t-shirt Rachel was wearing looked tight and the material made a creaking sound trying to contain the muscle within. She really worked out, Bella thought as they continued to walk. She took in the sight of the girl next to her. There was almost no body fat on her what so ever. It was all muscle. In the last few days, Rachel cut her hair to a nice length bob and it looked like she had gotten a tattoo on her neck that went down her collar bone. It was a bunch of tribal lines forming a big wolf, or dog, Bella really couldn’t tell which. It was being hidden by the fabric of Rachel's t-shirt. 

There was nothing to tell Bella that this was indeed her childhood friend from so long ago.

"How did you know about them?" She asked as they found a spot by the tree line to sit and talk.

Rachel sat on a fallen log, put her elbows on her knees and folded her hands together. Her back was hunched and her mouth formed a thin line as if she was thinking about the right words to say.

"I didn’t at first." A moment passed.

"I'd heard the stories of 'The Cold Ones' since I was a child. It was like a scary story they had told the younger kids to behave, but I knew there was a truth to it. I came back for the Christmas and asked my dad about the story and he told me that the Cullen's were back in town."

"What did that have to do with you?" Bella asked specifically.

"Well, it was my great, great Grandfather Ephraim Black that wrote the treaty out with them. Most of it talked about them not coming onto our land. There's like a physical barrier for vampires separating our land from theirs. Then there's the matter of them killing one of us." Bella thought there was more to the ' _us_ ' part but kept silent waiting for Rachel to continue. "If they were to accidently kill a human or change one of them here, in Forks, the treaty would be forfeit."

Bella stood at her spot against a tree and picked at a stick she had picked up.

"But the Cullen's don’t drink human blood. They only feed on animals." She said wondering what they had to worry about.

"The Cullen's do yes, but there are some in their family that have just grown accustomed to the diet. Most of them are 'Vegetarians'." The Quileute used air quotes to let Bella in on the joke. She cracked a smile and puffed out a laugh.

Rachel got up from her spot and went in front of Bella grasping her shoulders. Her deep brown eyes bore into the piercing green ones and stared at her for a few moments before saying.

"Promise me, you'll be careful Bella. Be careful with them, be careful with Alice." Her velvet voice was thick with worry and she needed Bella to say those words back to her. Not only could she smell the scent of the Cullen's all over the girl, but she could feel her body shake with rage. There was a vampire close by, watching them. There were a couple of them actually. Rachel needed to get out of here, and fast.

Upon seeing the look in her friend's eyes, Bella nodded and repeated the words said to her.

"I'll be careful, promise."

Rachel released a breath she had been holding in.

"Good. I'll catch you later Bells."

She smiled and began walking back to the house. It was time to go. She went in through the way she had came and told Billy she wasn’t feeling well. Billy saw the wary look in his daughter's eyes but wanted to stay and chat with his friend. Charlie volunteered to drive Billy home when he felt like it and the two shared another laugh before Rachel finally left, taking off into the trees.

She ran as if her life depended on it but she stopped when she heard the growls of several vampires around her. The blonde hair of one Rosalie Cullen made itself known as the vamp dropped down from a tree. Tanya, Edward, Irina, and Laurent were also with her.

"Listen, mutt." Rosalie growled at the native. "Hand's off of Bella."

Rachel held up her hands in defeat. She was trembling awfully bad and needed to get home. She needed to get her rage under control. She stayed silent the entire time Rosalie was threatening her. No words needed to be spoken however as her telepathic brother answered for her.

"Relax Rose. They're just friends." Edward went over to the blonde Cullen and put a hand on her shoulder. There was a rage within Rosalie that was apparent to all present.

_"I promise, there's nothing going on."_ Rachel growled through gritted teeth.

God, she needed to get home. They weren't supposed to be this close to the border. Something must have happened between Bella and her bloodsucker at school. Alice she had met before, but not these five. All of them stank, but their scent was more potent than Alice's. Maybe it was because she was attached to her friends' hip. She knew the pixie vampire had some sort of connection with the teen and therefore backed off. Alice was nice and thoughtful of other people. In that one conversation, Rachel could tell that Alice wasn’t like any other vampire.

Rosalie turned to her brother and looked into his sincere honey eyes. Edward was a fantastic liar when he wanted to be, but now she could tell that he was telling the truth when he read the Quileute's mind. She turned her gaze once again to the native in front of her. Crossing her arms, she visibly relaxed. The woman in front of her was sweating profusely, as if she was trying to contain something. Her eyes were shifting into some different color than they were before.

Every other one she had met before wouldn’t put up such a fight with their birthright, but this one was strong. This one was different.

After Rachel stood there for a good few more minutes, she knew she couldn’t take much more.

_"Can I go now?"_ She gritted out once more.

Rosalie and the others stepped aside and when they did the native turned to Laurent and pointed a finger at him.

_"_ _You'd best behave yourself."_

Irina stood in front of her mate ready to protect him, but it was all for nothing as the girl disappeared into the trees. The sounds of ripping fabric echoed throughout their ears and after a few moments there were a slew of howls. The children knew it was now time to make their leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any one notice what's up with Rachel ;)? I love how she had the balls to speak to a vampire like that. Lol. My little badass.


	20. Meeting the Parents.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even though Bella has met most of the family, there are a few others that she hasn't yet. This is that chapter. Lots of Cullen/Denali family time. And I had Jasper be a tiny bit OC because we already have another angsty former human blood sucker in our group. Enjoy.

Sitting there, in the canary yellow Porsche 911 turbo was Bella Swan and her newly acquired girlfriend Alice Cullen. Now this girlfriend wasn’t your average, every day person like Bella was, no sir, Alice was in fact a vampire that fed only on animals. Parked in front of Alice's gorgeous house, the two girls sat there while Bella gained her nerve.

She wasn’t afraid to walk into said vampire lair because of the vampires; nope. The human was nervous for an entirely different reason. Bella Swan was afraid that her girlfriends' family wouldn't-get this-like her. Honestly it was the craziest thing Alice herself had ever heard. Bella continued to sit there in the passenger seat and play with her hair. She was so afraid she would embarrass herself; that she would trip over a wrinkle in a curtain and accidently cut herself-making them feel uncomfortable to be around her, or that she would say something completely stupid to offend them in some shape or form.

Bella had this all figured out. She would follow Alice's every move and not speak unless spoken too, that way she couldn’t do any of those things she just thought about in her head. Her mind was rambling on and on and it took Alice's lips against her cheek to break her out of her mental tirade.

Alice held out her cold, slender hand to her mate.

"Bella, you need to trust me. They're going to love you."

Bella nodded still a little unsure of herself.

"Half of them know you already! It's just my mom, aunt, uncle, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law you have to meet now." Alice said cheerfully kissing Bella's knuckles as the human placed her warm hand in Alice's own.

"Oh." Bella chuckled ruefully. "Is that all?"

The vampire next to her suddenly turned serious.

"We don’t have to do this today Bella. Not unless you're absolutely sure you want to."

Bella looked straight at Alice and swooned at how concerned she was for her. With everything that had happened in the past, it was no surprise but still, it felt really nice. She leaned forward slightly and gave Alice a chaste yet loving kiss. Then she sighed and gathered her courage.

"No. I can do this. It's just like you said. I only have a few more to meet. They’ll love me."

She said this in her head like an internal mantra as she exited the car and stepped on to the steps leading up to the front door. Bella didn’t even have to raise her hand to knock or ring the doorbell as the piece of wood flew open to reveal the matriarch of the family, Esme Cullen. The red haired woman looked so kind and loving that it was hard to deny her a hug when she held out her arms.

"Hello Bella." Esme said sweetly, pulling Bella in for a warm and motherly hug. Bella fell easily into the woman's arms and hugged her around the waist. Once the hug was ended, Esme pulled back and introduced herself.

"My name is Esme Cullen. I'm Alice's mother, as well as mother to Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper. Welcome to the family dear." It was so sweet that it made Bella's teeth tingle.

She led the two girls into the kitchen where there was food prepared. Everything from sandwiches, to pizza, to steak and French fries. Bella's eyes widened at the array of foods and wondered if anyone else would be eating it with her. Upon seeing Bella's face, Esme spoke up in concern.

"Did I make too much for you, Bella?" The woman looked like she was genuinely about to cry.

The human held out her hands and waved them saying,

"No! No Mrs. Cullen. Everything looks great, I promise. You didn’t make this all for me did you?"

Esme heaved an unneeded sigh of relief.

Alice went on to say how vampires didn’t eat human food. That they just drank animal blood. So her mother had prepared everything she could find, just incase Bella had gotten hungry throughout the day. Everything smelled so good and it was making the human's stomach grumble. It sounded so loud in the ears of every vampire on the premises. Emmett guffawed in another room while Edward and Kate chuckled from their spot in the sun room. They were playing chess.

"May I?" Bella asked wondering if she could partake in the marvelous smelling food.

"Oh please do, dear! But only on one condition;" Esme said as the teen began to reach for a slice of pizza. "You have to call me Esme from now on. No more Mrs. Cullen stuff. I had a hard enough time when that's all Alice would call me."

As Bella took a bite into the sauce covered dough, it all but melted in her mouth as she began to chew. She gasped as the flavors of homemade tomato sauce covered her taste buds. There was also extra cheese and even venison sausage on top. Bella moaned at the perfectly constructed pizza and when she swallowed, she was quite curious about something.

"If you guys don't eat human food, how do you cook so well Esme?"

Esme would've blushed if she could at the underlying compliment.

"Years of practice darling. When you're a house wife with nothing but time on your hands, you either cook or go stir-crazy." 

When she took the last bite of the pizza and crust, Alice took her girlfriend's wrist and pulled her to another part of the house entirely. Bella looked up and all around the room that was encompassed in glass. The clouds did cover much of the sun, but there were bits of sun filtering through. Kate, along with her sister Irina were reading. Each blonde looked up from their worn pages and up into the eyes of the newest member of the family. Although they wouldn’t say it out loud, they knew that there was no chance of Alice leaving the young human.

"Hey Bella." Kate said with her usual smile.

"Hi Bella!" Irina greeted as she got up from the chaise lounge. The blonde held out her arms for a hug and Bella stepped into it. They exchanged brief pleasantries before Bella was pulled once more, but outside into the back yard.

Another blonde, who looked slightly older than the two inside stood at the tree line with her arms crossed over her chest. Her strawberry blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders in perfect curls. They were lose and yet had a certain bounce to them as she paced watching nothing but a blur in front of her.

Bella's human eyes couldn’t quite catch it, but there were two other vampires sparing in front of Tanya. Laurent and Jasper traded blows for most of the morning. Each of the men had cracks all over their face and body from well connected hits. The empath had taken notice to Bella's confusion and stopped fighting his brother-in-law. The two appeared as if out of thin air and the human spectator gasped.

Jasper greeted Bella as the two blondes inside did, but the dark skinned man kept his distance. Irina came outside and stood next to her mate, holding his hand. Alice introduced the man.

"Bella, this is Laurent. Laurent, Bella." The human teen held out her hand to the man, but he took a moment to compose himself before shaking it. Irina was right there next to him the entire time and Laurent had been grateful for the support.

Bella could sense the discomfort in him and stepped back. At this Laurent dropped his gaze to the floor and explained.

"I'm sorry if I scare you, Bella. It's true that I am newly accustomed to this diet, but you have nothing to fear from me." His voice was thick with his Parisian accent and Irina grasped his hand harder.

She could sense the tension in the room and wanted to reassure the vegetarian.

"It's really okay Laurent. I didn’t move away because I was afraid of you. I did it because I knew **_you_** were uncomfortable with my scent."

Laurent's copper eyes widened at the concern for his well-being. He mustered up his courage and held out his hand again. Bella smiled as she took it. The four-some stood there for a few moments without moving, with both Tanya and Jasper looking on, making sure everything stayed copesetic.

When the boys were done with their greetings and introductions, it was Tanya's turn.

"Hello Bella. I'm Tanya; Edward's mate." Her voice held a certain silkiness to it that Bella couldn’t put her finger on, but her tone signified that she was from another time all together. There was also a word that Bella didn’t hear before today. Mate. She filed that away in her mind for later.

Carmen and Eleazar were the last two to meet. The pair were inseparable and went everywhere together. Carmen, the lovely raven-haired vampire was the first to shake Bella's hand. Eleazar stood and watched the exchange as if reading the human. When it was his turn, he took Bella's hand readily.

"It's wonderful to meet you Bella. Alice, you didn’t tell me your mate was a shield." There was that word again. Mate. Bella really needed to talk to her girlfriend more about what was really going on between them; and then there was the whole 'shield' business. What did that mean?

"A shield?" Bella spoke up. With how old Alice was there was a possibility that the pixie had come in contact with one before, but she was just as confused as Bella. She shook her head also not knowing what that meant.

"I've never met one before so I didn’t know what it was."

Edward also raced outside and listened intently to the new conversation. He had the same contemplative look on his face that Eleazar did. Both men looked at Bella reading her, sizing her up, wondering where the gift had come from.

"All of the other one's I've met are so different." Edward stated as he circled the girl.

Bella shifted from foot to foot as the men went around her like sharks in the ocean. Her face turned beet red also as a result.

"It's why I can't read your mind." He said trying to explain what her gift actually was.

Eleazar was the one who elaborated more on the subject.

"What that means is that you possess a defense against any psychic attacks. Any that can penetrate another's mind. Even Aro's I would suspect." He said the last part quietly enough for only the vampires around him to hear.

Alice giggled at the news.

"I envy you, my love. I'd give anything to not have Eddy here in my brain." The brother and sister pair shared a look while others outside gave either a snicker or a full blown chuckle.

_____________________

After most of the introductions, Bella and Alice went back inside for her to eat a bit more. The human devoured the rest of the homemade pizza and then went upstairs with Alice to see her room. On the way there, a door to the right of her opened to reveal Rosalie Cullen. The girl shut the door behind her and gave Bella a curt nod in greeting.

"Hey Rosalie." Bella said before walking off. Before she could get very far however, she felt a pair of muscular arms grasp her mid-section. She was lifted up into the air and spun in circles at-thankfully-a human pace.

"Bella Bear!!" Emmett joyfully erupted as he spun his new sister around. He controlled his strength and set Bella down without any injuries. He smiled and ruffled her long brown hair. The bear was excited to see her here today. Him and Rose had just had some epic 'alone time'. Alice could tell but thankfully the human was blissfully unaware.

"Hey Emmett; how about a little warning next time." Bella said as she rubbed the back of her neck, which was now tense from the sudden movement.

Emmett punched her lightly in the arm and said.

"Awe, where's the fun in that?" Then it was Rosalie's turn to smack her husband on the back of the head.

"OW! Babe, what was that for?!" He said rubbing the now sore spot.

Rosalie was silent as she walked down the stairs and into the living room. Bella watched her go and wondered why she was so cold to her. Did Bella do something to offend her? Or was she just standoff-ish in nature? She didn’t have much time to think on the issue as she was once again being pulled by her girlfriend.

They stopped by Carlisle's office to give their salutations and the man said he had something to give Bella. Alice knew what it was and smiled as they followed the man into his office. It was a beautiful room filled with a large wooden desk, most likely made of mahogany, and bookshelves lined with both novels and educational books new and old. One of the older ones she could see was worn and the color had dulled over time. She ran her finger over the book and wondered about what it held inside.

Carlisle smiled and said.

"That was handed down to me by my father." Bella snatched her hand away moments later. With it being a family heirloom, it must have been very valuable to the man. He chuckled at Bella's reaction but explained none the less.

"My father was not a very forgiving man. He persecuted others because they were different. Any who didn't follow his religion or his teachings were often treated like pariahs. He couldn’t see passed his bigotry." Carlisle turned solemn as he thought of his past.

"I loved my father dearly; even followed in his footsteps. With me as the only son, I was meant to carry on his work. When I was turned into a vampire however, that all changed. Seeing what I had become, I hid from the world. People would say that I went missing, or ran away from the responsibility given to me by my father. They didn’t know anything. I knew that if I went back, he would hate me for what I was. So I stayed away. Over time I came to realize just how wrong he was. He was afraid of all that were different from him." He touched the spine of the book as if it were the most precious thing.

"It was a hard road for the first 50 years, but the readjustment period didn’t take much toll on me."

Bella listened to the tale but wondered how old the man in front of her actually was. He didn’t look older than 25.

"How old are you exactly, Carlisle?" He went back over to the desk and leaned against it with his arms across his chest. He smiled before looking upon her again.

"Alice didn't tell you already?" Bella shook her head.

"I'm at least 300 years young." If the human was eating or drinking anything in that moment, surely she would've choked. Her eyes widened almost comically and she couldn’t find words to respond.

Carlisle saw her trying to communicate, held up a hand, and went behind the desk. He leaned down and opened one of the top drawers. He pulled out a parcel and placed it on the surface of his desk, motioning for Bella to come closer. Doing as requested, she waited for further instruction. Alice smiled at her father as he presented her mate with this gift. It was one that the entire family had received before. She pulled at the choker on her neck lovingly running her thumb along the cameo.

Bella took the box in her hands and ran her fingers along the wrapping.

"You can either open it now Bella or you can wait until later; it's your choice." Carlisle said in his understanding and fatherly way.

She thought about it for a moment before pulling at the bow string. It came undone quickly and the gently unwrapped the package. What was it? She wondered. It wasn’t her birthday yet and she had just met some of the family today, but it didn’t matter because they were so nice to her. It was as if she were now part of the family as a whole. A wooden box was now in her hands as the paper fell to the side.

Bella's hand was on the surface of the wooden box; ready to open it. But that’s when Alice's hand covered her own. She looked into the golden eyes of her girlfriend.

"You might wanna wait on that. I still haven't told you the best part." Alice smiled. Bella couldn’t help but place the small package on the mahogany desk and follow her out of the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended it here because I wanted to mostly draw out the initial family meeting. There are so many given the blendedness. And of course we also now know that Bella is a shield . (Gasp and Awe) Next chapter is definitely coming soon. Oh and I had Bella partake in the Pizza because I'm also a pizza junky. I can't get enough of the stuff.
> 
> A/N: Updated for Laurent's accent. I haven't watched the movies in a long time and I've never read the books so I was a little mistaken about that little Laurent tidbit.


	21. The Bond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pair spends some alone time and Alice explains the mate bond of vampires. Bella basks in the perfection that is Alice.

When Alice's bedroom door shut with a click, Bella was instantly reminded of the parcel that Carlisle had given her. She felt guilty for just leaving it there on his desk and leaving, but there was something about the look in Alice's eyes just then that begged her to wait. Bella wanted to go back and get it but the pixie was still blocking the door. That look in her eye was still there. It was full of uncertainty and dare she say it, fear. She then walked over to the four post bed, sat on the mattress and waited.

Alice was gathering her courage. Sure, she and Bella were girlfriends, they held hands, they kissed (Boy did they), she stayed the night when Charlie went to bed. It was your typical teenage romance. However, there was something that Alice didn’t tell Bella. She didn't tell Isabella Marie Swan that she was her mate. Alice knew that the girl heard the word come from both Tanya and Eleazar, but there was more to it that just the word. Having a mate was like having the one person that completed you. It was like finding your other half, your missing piece, your true love. Alice needed to explain to the human about what that meant.

She kept looking at her toes for a few more minutes and went over to join her girlfriend on the bed. Vampires didn’t need to sleep. They didn’t really need much except blood. They didn’t sleep, didn’t dream, didn’t eat or drink, but there was still the illusion to it all. The Cullen's figured that to remain as human as possible, was to keep up the appearance that they were human. There fore each person in the family had a bed, and other things in their bedrooms. Alice sighed as sat on the bed next to Bella and fell backwards. The soft cushion was very comfortable and if she were human she would've fallen asleep right then.

Bella turned so that she was looking down at Alice and leaned down. Her face was inches from her girlfriends and with Alice's eyes closed, she could take in all of her features. Alice's eyes were a perfect almond shape. Her hair was short enough so that you could see the entire column of her neck. Alice's lips were parted as she breathed in air that was unnecessary. They were plump and a pale pink and they looked shiny from whatever lip gloss she put on that day. Bella licked her own lips as she watched Alice's chest cavity rise and fall with each unneeded breath.

With her arms raised by her head, it hiked up her shirt so that there was a little skin showing at her mid-section. Bella breathed in heavily as she looked at the pale creamy skin there. She wanted to touch it, almost desperately. Was Alice ticklish? That was another thing she wanted to know. What was her favorite color, her favorite movie, her favorite treat as a child. These were all things that Bella wanted or needed to know about Alice Cullen. With confidence she didn’t know she possessed, Bella took one of her hands and ran her finger up and down the side closest to her.

Her ears picked up the sound of Alice's heavy breathing which quickly became purring. Bella looked once again at her girlfriends face and saw her eyes opened once again. Bright honey shined into her. They were almost as bright as the sun and honestly, Bella felt like Icarus. His wax wings carrying him all across the sky, but she knew that unlike the mythical unlucky soul, she wouldn’t let her wings melt. Alice wouldn’t let her fall.

As if being pulled in by Bella's gravitational aura, Alice leaned up on her elbows and her eyes flitted between her girlfriends eyes and her lips. The hand that was on Alice's exposed mid-drift was now making it's way up her stomach and over her sternum. She held it there for a moment as if searching for a heartbeat. Bella looked utterly fascinated at Alice as she didn’t feel a thing and resumed her path up her neck and to her perfect porcelain cheek. Alice's hair tickled the back of her hand because it was so soft.

Alice leaned into the warm touch and kissed the inside of Bella's palm.

"Kiss me." Alice whispered to her and the human gladly obliged.

Alice couldn’t get enough of kissing Bella. It was like a drug that she wouldn't bare to quit. She tasted of mint and everything that made Bella who she was. Alice brought a hand up and wrangled it in her girlfriends flowing locks. Did Bella know how beautiful she was? How perfect? Alice didn’t know the answer to her own question but she hand an inkling that Bella had no idea. She was going to spend however long they had together showing her though.

The two girls kissed for a long while. With Bella breathing in through her nose, it made making out that much more lengthy and pleasurable. Alice could feel herself becoming more aroused as she kissed her mate and that could only mean one thing. She ended the kiss and sighed while leaning her forehead on Bella's.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked as she could feel her body begin to heat up with passion.

Alice sat up the rest of the way and re-situated herself so that she was leaning against the wooden headboard. She held out her arms and waited for Bella to lay down on top of her. Alice's chest rose and fell with calming breaths as she relaxed in this position.

"Nothing my Bella. There's just a few other things I need to tell you about us."

Bella, who was resting her head on Alice's flat stomach, now placed her chin right in the center of it and looked at her intently. Alice now knew that she was listening so she began to speak.

"You heard how Tanya and Eleazar said something about the word mates?" She felt Bella nod against her abdomen.

"Well, every vampire has one. Tanya is Edward's and Eleazar is Carmen's, that's why they were together when they came to meet you. Rosalie is Emmett's and Irina is Laurent's. Irina is severely protective of Laurent because of his former nature. She doesn’t want him to feel out of place or persecuted for his past actions. Esme is Carlisle's. She was the second person he changed into a vampire. It’s a funny story," She chuckled before continuing. "They had met when Esme was a little girl. She broke her leg when she fell from a tree."

The other details Alice left out were for Esme to tell. Alice planted her fingers in Bella's chestnut hair, feeling a wave of calm that only her mate could provide.

"Where I grew up, my gifts weren't exactly welcomed. My father sent me to an asylum where I stayed for electro-shock treatment. It erased my memory. My maker was a man named Kumboh who came here during the slave trade." Alice remembered the man fondly; never forgetting the gifts he brought her.

"He saw how they were treating me. How miserable I became. I told him of a vampire who was in one of my visions, chasing after me. Kumboh took me out of the asylum and changed me into a vampire. I killed my father soon after I was changed, but after that, my maker gave me a choice. To live as a human drinker, never to step out in human society again, or to drink animal blood and live a somewhat normal life. That's when James caught up with us." Alice closed her eyes at the painful memory of Kumboh forcing her away. At the time, there was no greater pain that her losing her maker.

"During my first animal hunt, I had a vision. It was of you." She looked down at the turquoise eyes swirling with curiosity. This was where it would finally become clear for Bella. "I can't even find the word to explain to you what I felt from that first vision. It was the first one I had since becoming a vampire. It was so powerful, so life changing for me. It was euphoric and yet maddening at the same time. I was looking up at you from a tree branch. It was raining so you wore your raincoat to keep somewhat dry, but the ends of your hair were still damp." Alice took the hair in question and twirled it in her perfect fingers. "When you looked up Bella, you saw me. You looked into my eyes and everything changed. Everything came together for me. You became my reason, my missing piece."

Her other hand moved from the middle of Bella's back, up to her cheek where it rested.

"That's what it means to find your mate. You find your reason for living, existing. When I lost Kumboh, I thought I lost everything. But I knew that when I had that vision of you, it was him, it was my mother's spirit, telling me that there was still something left for me, and me alone, in this world."

Bella squeezed Alice's midsection, hugging her to her body, processing everything that Alice had just said. She was questioning what was going on between them so many times in the short period that they had known each other. Burying her face in the smooth cloth of Alice's t-shirt, Bella thought about everything that had happened and why she was so accepting of it. Their initial meeting, the time that Alice saved her from the speeding van, when she saved her that night in Port Angelus. Alice's protective nature had become somewhat of a turn-on for Bella.

Then there was that day in the forest. When the realization came to her that Alice was indeed a vampire. Bella was so fine with everything. She even tried to convince Alice that she wasn’t the monster she thought she was. Was it this mate bond that Alice had been talking about? Was it the one thing that brought her into this world of vampires and their weird diets and abilities? Bella found that she didn’t care how she got here. The only thing she cared about was not letting Alice go, ever.

"I'm not letting you go." Bella voiced her thoughts out loud.

"You're the one thing that makes sense to me, Alice. You said that I became your missing piece, you became mine as soon as I saw you in history class. I was so lost when you weren't there at school. I didn’t know if it was me that had done something wrong. But then you came back, we became friends, and a whole convoluted chain of events happened that were beyond our control." Scooting up Alice's prone body, she leaned her forehead against that of her girlfriends'; her mate's.

"You're mine, Alice Cullen; and I'm yours, for as long as you'll have me."

Breathing in deeply, each of the girls closed their eyes and relaxed into the mate bond that was coursing through them. It was rare for a human to feel such emotion so new to the ancient bond, but Bella was far from normal or ordinary.

"I love you, Bella."

"And I love you."

They each uttered the words that came so easily to them. Both girls knew that they would have to return downstairs and Alice would have to drive Bella home, but for now, everything was perfect, everything seemed right.


	22. Play Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know that infamous baseball scene, this is it. With a little more meat to it.

The rest of the winter months flew by and the remaining patches of ice and snow began to thaw. There was still that random chill in the air and the sun remained blissfully unaware of the small town. Bella woke up on a Saturday morning and stretched her sleep-filled limbs. Alice had once again stayed the night, much like she always did, and went to go hunt with her siblings. The threw on some random jeans and shirt before going downstairs to greet her father good morning.

As she entered the kitchen however, Charlie was there with the front page of the paper in his hands and a stern look on his face. Bella went around the table where her dad was sitting and reached up into the cupboard for a bowl for her cereal. Scanning the headline, she could see why Charlie had been concerned.

**Missing hiker found; Body mauled by animal attack.**

She looked at the location of the front page picture and saw that police tape warded off the scene in Seattle. While it was plenty far away from their small town, it still gave Charlie reason to look concerned.

Bella walked over to the fridge for her milk and reached above it for her favorite cereal. She wondered if it was a bear coming out of hibernation. They were territorial beasts by nature and didn’t appreciate finding humans close to their sleeping spot. That’s when a pair of blood red eyes flashed in her mind. Was it another supernatural creature? Bella thought on this and waited for Alice to come get her to ask her about it. Hopefully her pixie would have answers.

She didn't have to wait long however, for the doorbell rang just seconds later. Bella, in mid-chew, smiled and swallowed her bite before getting up and rushing to the door. Alice was there in a beautiful outfit. It included a camouflage halter top and a pair of daisy duke shorts. Bella could feel herself salivating at the sight of her girlfriend and opened the door fully for Alice to enter.

The pixie vampire kissed Bella quickly on the lips before taking the invitation. The teen couldn’t help but watch her walk away in those denim shorts. Alice's hips sashayed into the kitchen knowing full well that her mate had been watching. She took a seat at the kitchen table next to Charlie and when Alice said hello, the man only gave a grumble in response. She also turned her sights to the front page the father had been reading. Her eyes widened slightly and that’s when Bella knew it was time to leave.

"I'll see you later dad." She said kissing her father on the cheek and pulling Alice out after her.

None of them talked until they got in the car and put on their seatbelts. Alice gripped the steering wheel tightly and heard Bella's voice in her ear.

"Did you see anything?" Her mate asked as she started the car and began to drive.

Alice shook her head.

"No. My visions are never really clear. They're subjective; attached to a persons decisions. Whatever attacked that hiker, its mind was chaotic; not thinking clearly." For all Alice knew it could've actually been an animal, but she had her reservations.

Clouds began to loom overhead and Alice remembered why she had picked Bella up so early. There was going to be a thunderstorm today. Her mate was in for a real treat. The pixie smiled as she finished the drive to her family's house, the thoughts of animal attacks forgotten.

Once she got out of the car, Bella turned her attention to the sky. It was starting to become an angry grey. It looked as if it were going to open up with a severe storm. Alice opened the door for her and she walked into the beautiful majestic house. Every time she entered the threshold, she was amazed with the architecture. She had to really hand it to Esme, the woman really outdid herself. Thinking of the other woman brought her to the kitchen to see her bent over the stove cooking something in a deep pot. The smell of meat and vegetables wafted through her nose.

"That smells amazing Esme." Bella said with a sigh. Even though she had just finished breakfast, she couldn’t wait for lunch.

The caramel haired woman turned to her with a sweet smile. She walked over to Bella and embraced her tightly and kissed her forehead. The human girl had really become a part of the family. Carlisle had informed his wife that he had something made for her to signify her place in the family but Bella wasn’t able to open it for some time.

"Go take a seat on the couch, dear. Everyone else will be around shortly." Thinking that the other vampires in the house were out hunting, Bella took the invitation and sat down on the white leather couch.

Turning on the television, she found the channel already on the one she enjoyed the most. Voices of people echoed through the speakers as they talked about evidence and serial killers and their victims. Her attention was entirely on the flat screen in front of her when Alice sauntered over to her. Green eyes met dull gold as Alice went to situate herself on Bella's lap. She could feel her heart rate speed up as the vampire smiled coyly at her. As Alice settled across her legs, she also wound her arms around her neck, clasping her hands at the base.

Bella brought her arm up to her girlfriend's bare back almost moaning at the feeling of the smooth skin under her palm. She moved her hand over the expanse and Alice sighed at the soft touch. Bella's hands were so warm and soft and it made Alice feel like the most perfect being on earth. With heavy lidded eyes, Bella looked around to see if the matriarch was still in the kitchen worrying over the stew that was in the pot. All she found was the lone silver dish over the burner with a lid on it. The stove appeared to be off and then the now dark and diluted pupils of Bella's eyes once again turned to Alice's.

If Alice had a heart beat it would be thundering in her ears as Bella looked at her with such love, passion, and want. Her human brought her nose close to her neck and smelled the lingering perfume on her skin. Then she dragged it up the column and over her ear. Even the sound of Bella's heavy breathing turned her on. Careful not to grip the girls' hair too hard, Alice wound her hair around her fingers feeling the lightweight softness of it. Her fingers began massaging at the scalp beneath them and Bella moaned in her ear. Her eyes went wide at the sinful music and pushed her girlfriend down on her back.

It was a sweet and torturous game that these two were playing and Alice's thoughts went into dangerously sinful territory as she gazed into her soon-to-be lover's.

"Do you know what you do to me Bella?" She husked out, trying to convey how much she had been holding back her passion for the girl.

"Show me." Bella said. The words surprised Alice in every way. She was so overcome with her bodies responses that she didn’t even feel her fangs extend. Her lip crinkled signifying their release, but other than that, there was no reaction for the superior being.

Bella gasped as she looked at the elongated canines. She had seen pictures and read books before of what they looked and felt like, but nothing came close to what she was feeling at the sight of Alice's. Heat overcame her body as Alice leaned down and lightly scraped her teeth over Bella's neck. She moaned at the feeling of sharp bone against her skin and almost pushed Alice's head further into her.

"Excuse me, can you not? I can hear your thoughts from upstairs." Edward voiced his concerns as he descended the staircase.

Alice then retracted her fangs and got up off of her love. Bella groaned frustrated at the boys interruption. Tanya smiled, looking like she had been laughing moments ago, and followed him. Emmett and Rosalie were next as the former punched his fist in the air ready for the day. Jasper had his hands in his pants pockets looking at the floor.

As the Cullen children came down, Bella heard the sliding glass door open to reveal the other Denali sisters, Carmen, and Eleazar. All of the vampires were wearing white sports jerseys with blue trim and matching baseball caps. Rosalie, Kate, and Tanya all had their hair up in ponytails to keep it from being scrunched up in the hat. Irina always sported an up-do so Bella wasn’t surprised about that. Carlisle and Esme came down seconds later with the father figure holding something in his hand. He held out his hands toward Bella to reveal a jersey of her own. She turned it around and it had her name there etched into the material.

At first Bella was confused as to the attire but Alice quickly explained.

"We're going to go out to the clearing and play some baseball." She said as she quickly exited the room and came back moments later resuming her spot next to her girlfriend.

Thunder rumbled in the distance and Bella tilted her head to the side; still clearly confused.

Carlisle chuckled at the look and said.

"Vampires need to play during a thunderstorm to keep other's from hearing them. When we hit the ball it actually sounds like a thunder clap."

Bella nodded and took him at his word, knowing that she would find out when they got to the clearing to play. She went to the downstairs bathroom and changed into her new shirt before joining the rest of the family. Alice held out her hand as they exited the house and went to either the Jeep or the pick up truck that Laurent had taken a liking too. It was a classic looking truck, just like Bella's and Rachel's, only this one was a dark forest green with silver trim. He kept up with it that was for sure.

The Denali clan, including Tanya and Edward rode in the pick up while the rest of them climbed into the large jeep. Thankfully it fit everyone comfortably and Emmett took Bella's hand and helped her stand up in the cab. She held onto the cross bars for dear life as the large vampire stood behind her. He made sure he didn’t fall and Alice looked on watching the girl with great care.

Once they got to their destination, Esme took Bella aside while the others set up a large baseball diamond. The human watched with interest as Alice and the others set up the wide shape. It was wider than anything she had seen before, but considering the speed and agility of vampires, that made total and complete sense.

Everything was ready and Alice stood at the pitchers mound. Wondering who was up to bat, Bella went with Esme behind Carlisle.

"You and I will keep score." She said with a smile.

Bella watched as Kate stepped up to the home-plate. The blonde hiked the bat over her shoulder and looked at her best friend. She had the perfect batters stance with her feet shoulder-width apart. Her long hair, even though constrained by the hair-tie swayed majestically in the breeze. Bella looked over to her girlfriend next, spying true concentration etched on her features. Alice leaned down and rolled the small baseball in her hands, feeling the laces on the pads of her fingers. Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper stood at the bases while just Edward was in the outfield.

Bella thought that with him being one of the fastest in the coven he could support a whole outfield position.

Moments later, Alice stood up and brought her leg up to her forehead with ballerina like grace and precision. The ball left her hand with a speed that Bella found hard to keep track of. Kate swung at the flying object like it was nothing and when the hardwood crashed into the woven ball, it did indeed sound like thunder. Bella almost covered her ears at the loudness of it but she figured that would take away from the experience so she kept her arms at her sides.

The ball flew through the air and far into the tall trees as Edward ran to catch it. Kate then took off to the first base which seemed to be a mile from home-plate. Bella could just make out the tiny figure of Rosalie as Kate ran toward her. Edward breeched the tree-line, baseball in hand, and threw it to Jasper at second base. Kate grew a mischievous smile at the empath and was tempted to use her gift on him. However both Carlisle and Tanya both made it against the rules to use gifts while playing the game so she just hoped that Eddy threw too far or that Jasper missed entirely.

The blonde pushed her feet as fast as they would carry her to second base, hoping that Jasper didn’t have the ball. Seconds pass and her feet tapped the padded bag of second base just before he caught the ball. Frantically, Emmett waved his hands in the air, yelling at his brother to throw it to him, but as Kate passed him as well, he pointed over to home plate where Carlisle was indeed ready.

Jasper threw the ball as hard as he could to his father and Kate slid home just as it entered his bare hands. In a blur, Carlisle brought the ball down to the blonde's shoulder and tagged her out.

Esme smiled and said.

"You're outta here!" It was loud and boisterous, exactly like an actual umpire, and it made Bella smile and laugh.

One more out, that was provided by Irina, and it was the Cullen's turn to bat. Carmen took Esme's spot as the umpire and Alice was the first up to hit. She swung the bat in one hand and it glided over her fingers and into her palm expertly. She smiled and winked at her girlfriend before stepping up to the plate. She tapped the tip of the bat against the bag and froze for a moment. Bella watched as Alice's body grew stiff and her eyes become unreadable. She was having a vision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alice is stuck in a vision and she's up to bat. What could possibly go wrong?


	23. Red Eyed Hunger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This will begin the story's climax. What will happen in these last couple of chapters? My mind filled with the band known as Audiomachine will set the stage. If you guys haven't heard of them or listened to any of their stuff, I implore you to please check them out. They are the inspiration to these final chapters of The Alice Cullen File.

A certain fog drifted over Alice's view as she was struck with a vision. She was looking through the eyes of someone else. She didn’t know who. Alice looked down at her feet and found that they were bare. Walking in the soft grass gave her a sense of collectiveness and she closed her eyes at the feeling of it. The breeze blew over her and she could feel the air on her body. That’s when the vision turned into something else. She could hear the growls of other vampires as they walked with purpose. Each step, was foreboding and sinister. When the fog lifted, she saw the blood red eyes of someone she had met before.

Alice's lips curled into a sneer as she came out of her vision. Bella was right beside her with a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her golden eyes were now filled with fear as the rest of the family gathered around her. She took Bella into her arms and held her tightly before giving her gently to Esme. Alice took Carlisle over to the side and spoke with him quietly.

" _We've got to protect Bella_." She uttered surely. It was a pleading request from daughter to father and Carlisle shook her head. Placing a hand on Alice's shoulder, he looked to the large group and whispered knowing that they could hear him.

_"Vampires, they're not like us."_

Esme immediately took Bella into her arms just like Alice had moments ago and the rest of the family gathered around them covering Bella and her scent. Thankfully the wind was cooperating with them and stilled for the time being. The human had grown confused as to what was happening, but Emmett, Edward, Jasper, and Laurent went over to Carlisle and Alice waiting for instruction. With the looks on everyone's faces, this didn’t really look like the time for questions. Bella just calmly wrapped her arms around Esme's waist, patiently waiting for Alice to return to her side.

As if on cue, three figures walked out of the distant fog. The one in the middle had on an animal pelt that was big enough to serve as a jacket, and trousers that went over the tops of his feet. The clothes the other two wore looked like they were stolen off of a clothes line. There were two males and one female. On the right of the man in the middle was another man with short black hair. He wore a stern look on his face with a black muscle t-shirt and black jeans. The red-head on the left side of him licked her protruding fangs and wore a similar fur coat, a purple bra, and tight leather pants.

Bella watched as the three walked up to Carlisle, Alice, and the other boys. She didn’t know who they were but it looked like Alice sure did. Bella could feel the tension rolling off of her in waves.

The pixie didn’t chance a look back at her girlfriend. She didn’t want James and Victoria to pick up on her scent. The third vampire was new though. Alice wondered who he was before he was with those two murderers.

The sneer on her face grew as the small group of three stepped close to them. Alice looked at James's face and saw in inkling of recognition flutter over him as he came to a stop.

"Well as I live and breathe, little Mary Alice Brandon. We thought you were dead." Alice growled at hearing her human name pass this man's lips. She remembered the look on his smug face right before Alice ran from Kumboh's side. Would this be the moment she avenged him? Would this be her moment of justice or revenge?

Carlisle, sensing the tension growing over them, put a calm hand on the pixie's shoulder. She was tense and coiled. He could tell that Jasper was picking up on her anger and fear, and he also knew that the blonde was trying to use his gift to calm her down. Nothing was working it seemed, so he needed to end this quickly. For Bella's sake as well as Alice's.

Looking at their state of dress, the unknown spoke up from behind James.

"I'm Riley, and these are my friends." Riley looked at the baseball equipment littering the field. "It looks like a fun game you guys are having. Mind if we join."

The boy looked much like Emmett as he strutted forward with a dopey grin on his face. He chanced a look over to the large group of vampires all huddled around. They were hiding something, but what was it.

"Sorry." Carlisle said as he threw the small baseball up into the air. "Our rosters' all full." The simple phrase held a double meaning for the three nomads. It said that this was their land, and they were trespassing. Riley spied the ball in the air and before Carlisle could catch it, his hand was the first to grasp it instead. He spun the tiny ball on the tip of his finger and smugly asked once more.

"Awe, c'mon. The more the merrier, right?" He then turned his red eyes to his coven mates. The redhead, Victoria rolled her eyes at his antics. James on the other hand was too busy staring into Alice's dark, copper, angry eyes. The pixie was seething as she took in the presence of her maker's killer. Her fangs were extended and her nails were elongated poised and ready to fight. She knew that James was the strike first and ask questions later type.

Carlisle looked to the right of him and saw Alice in her state and could see that it was getting worse.

"We were actually just about to leave. Most of us haven't exactly fed in a while." He made a move to walk away and grabbed Alice's for her to do the same. Emmett and the other boys turned away as well.

James and the pixie were too busy squaring off against one another to notice the breeze coming over the crowd. It carried Bella's scent right over to the hunter and his eyes closed in pleasure. Alice's eyes widened as she could tell that he picked up on the smell of human blood. This was about to get a lot nastier.

"You brought a snack." He said as he began to walk toward the large group that held the precious human cargo.

Edward picked up on his thoughts and made his way to the front of his family, Tanya not far behind him. She turned her golden eyes to her husband and saw them filled with fear and anger. Alice hissed and growled low in her throat as she sped over to protect her mate. The nomads crouched into an attack position baring their fangs and their hungry red eyes.

"The girl is with us." Carlisle gritted out through his teeth.

It was a standoff between the Cullen's and the small group in front of them. Everyone was breathing heavily and Bella really didn’t understand much of what was going on, but she did see the sadistic smile on the blonde man's face. She could see his mouth begin to drool at the scent of her blood. Her heart beat raced in her ears as the fact of the matter became that she was now on their menu.

The Cullen's huddled around her with Esme in front of her. She leaned against the woman's toned back and wondered what everyone was thinking.

Then, just as James was about to lunge forward with his mouth opened wide, a set of howls rang through the space. They had been far enough away as to not encroach on the vampire territory, but they were hidden in the trees. The Cullen's and nomads could hear the snarls and growls of the newcomers and Edward could even hear their thoughts.

_"Leech!"_

_"Strangers!_

_"Bloodsucker!"_

_"Kill them!"_

_"Tear them apart!"_

_"Burn them!"_

Riley then grabbed James's shoulder hard enough to get his attention.

"We need to leave. Now."

Still hesitant to leave this marvelous prey behind, Victoria's voice cut through his bloodlust.

"We're out numbered darling. It's time to go."

Without a second thought, Alice blurred over to Bella and carried her over to the large Jeep in the distance. Her hair flew over her face as she wrapped her hands around her girlfriends' neck. This was supposed to be a good day. Now it became her nightmare. Alice loaded the teen girl into the passenger seat and tried to put her seatbelt on, but Bella had already done so.

"I got it, I got it Alice."

The pixie then got into the driver seat and sped off as soon as the vehicle shifted into gear.

___________________________________

Between losing the delectable scent and knowing they were vastly outnumbered, James, Victoria and Riley ran away into the fog they had arrived through. No one relaxed until Edward spoke up no longer reading the thoughts of the nomads. He could still hear the thoughts of the other new comer's however and told his father immediately.

Carlisle and Edward went to the tree-line to converse with the other creatures who were now stationed there.

_"You brought them here!"_

_"Stupid Leech!"_

_"Enemy!"_

_"Kill them!"_

Through all of the chaos however, there was a deep, yet harrowing voice of reason.

_"Calm yourselves! There is still a treaty in place and none of them have changed or bit a human!"_

Edward looked to the dark shadow now moving toward them.

"Most of them believe we are to blame for their arrival."

He spoke into Carlisle's ear. The blonde man crossed held the small baseball in his hands and moved it around.

"We did not invite them here. They are nomads hunting humans on our land!" More echoes of growls and snarling echoed in his ears.

"We will protect the girl with everything we have." A loud roar then sounded, shaking the very foundation of the trees.

"She is precious to us. To my daughter. I promise you, we will dispose of this problem."

Carlisle spoke calmly to the crowd that had assembled there. Each figure then took a moment to survey the two vampires in front of them. After a long moment, the largest of the creatures turned on its heels and waited for the others to follow.

One however took its time to leave, looking passed the two in front and toward someone else.

In the distance, Kate could feel her electricity coursing through her. It made her feel invigorated. The blonde had never felt anything like it before and looked down at her hands. There were tiny sparks all over her fingers, dancing along the tips.

"What is happening?" She asked aloud.

No one knew the answer. Not even her sisters. Kate focused her eyes over to the trees and found a pair of dark brown orbs staring back at her. She gasped and felt lighter than air.

_"No way."_

The distracted figure thought as it ran away from the scene. It was fast, faster than any other one that had been present. As it sped away, Edward read its final thought and smiled. It seemed as if they would need to talk to Kate in the near future.

____________________________________________________

Bella and Alice arrived back at the Cullen house and Alice was absolutely fraught with confusion, uncertainty, and fear. James was back with other members of his small coven. She had no idea that the two were even still alive. She had hoped they were killed during the years and she would be rid of them forever. Kumboh would finally be at peace. In her fury, Alice yelled at the top of her lungs and punched a hole in her bedroom wall. She felt her hand go into the plaster and she flinched at the sound of it cracking around her. Esme was not going to be happy with her once she found that.

Bella ran over to her heaving girlfriend and hugged her around the waist. She leaned her head on top of Alice's hunched shoulders and made sure the entire front of her body was pressed against her back. Bella knew that Alice needed to feel her presence. She needed to feel her there with her. Alice turned quickly in Bella's arms and immediately kissed her. It was rough and yet so gentle. The human moaned as she could feel the tips of Alice's fangs against her bottom lip. Making sure not to break skin, Alice gently bit down onto the plump flesh and sucked it into her mouth. Hands were everywhere over clothes. Alice needed to feel her mate close and safe, while Bella accommodated her needs.

Loud sighs and moans echoed throughout the room until they heard the front door open. They split apart and went to join the rest of the family in the living room. A meeting was surely important now. It was imperative that the Cullen's make a plan to ensure Bella's safety. Alice's hand found its way on Bella's lower back, making sure to always be touching her.

"He's going to be after me, isn't he? After my blood." Bella asked as the vampires fanned out all over the room.

Carlisle and Eleazar both were at the door to the kitchen. Laurent held Irina close to him as they sat on the chaise directly across from them. Carmen and Esme stood next to their husbands near the kitchen and busied themselves with anything they could think of. Edward, Tanya, and Kate sat on the larger of the two couches, thinking of what to do next. It was as if the three of them were having a silent conversation. Emmett was pacing the hardwood floor not far from the little group and Rosalie watched her mate cross the floor. It looked like she was watching a tennis match.

All of the vampires present looked distressed at their current situation.

"We need to keep Bella safe. We need to send her somewhere that James would never think to find her."

For what seemed like hours, Bella was the only one who raised her hand with a suggestion.

"I may have a couple ideas."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course Bella has an idea (bites at my fingernails in nervousness and frustration). Thanks Bells, way to put pressure on me. As you all can see, I replaced Laurent with Riley in this role. I liked him in the movies and wanted to write him in a living role. Riley on the other hand will indeed appear in my other stories.


	24. Plan A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was fun to write because there's not really a ton of dialogue but its just enough to get everyone's points across.

Bella made a quick call to her father after the family meeting and told him that she was staying with Alice and her family for a couple of days. They were going on a camping trip and wanted her to tag along. That was the excuse that she had given him. Charlie responded saying that him and a few other officers from their station were required to go over the investigation in Seattle so everything worked to her advantage. With him away from the house, he was safe from the red eyed vampires that were after her blood.

The two girls drove back to Bella's house to retrieve some clothes and other necessities that she might need. Alice made sure to follow her inside, just incase James or Victoria would try something now before that put their plan into motion. Edward and Emmett were nearby in the forest as well shadowing their movements. With Edward being the telepath and Emmett the strongest in the coven, it seemed like everything was under control.

They entered and exited the house in record time, with Bella carrying a full duffel bag over her shoulder. They got back into the large Jeep and drove back to the Cullen house. Alice was diving so fast that Bella held on to the bar above the window for dear life, her knuckles were turning white as Alice took a turn a little too sharply. The human then exited the Jeep and Alice did as well.

At the family meeting, Bella had proposed that they hide her somewhere while the other vampires spread her scent all over the forest. It would throw him off of her trail just enough to come up with an answer on how to permanently dispose of him. Alice and her siblings talked about who would take her and where. The pixie didn’t want to leave her mate's side and was verbally insistent in this. Carlisle, always being the voice of reason however, told her that James would expect that and Bella would be in imminent danger. Bella kissed her cheek, telling her that she would be fine with whoever wanted to take responsibility for her.

She felt bad for the family that was risking a lot for her. They felt a need to protect her. Bella felt weak. She wasn't a vampire like the Cullen's and had no idea of how to defend herself if she were caught by the blonde nomad and his friends. It frustrated her to no end, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on such matters. It would only make Alice more worried and afraid for her safety.

It was decided that Edward and Tanya would take the girl to where ever she thought would be the best location. Not long after, Bella decided that going back to Phoenix would be the most logical solution. The teen had lived there before so she knew the layout and where to lay low until the dust settled. Bella changed into her travelling clothes and gave the ones she had been wearing to Alice so they could put their plan into action.

"I don’t like this. Not one bit." Alice said once more as she paced the area of the garage.

Everyone decided to meet there before Bella, Tanya, and Edward left for the desert state. The human in question stepped into her girlfriends path and put her hands around her shoulders. Looking into her sea green eyes gave Alice some peace at least. She sighed and resigned herself to Bella's plan. Her mate was smart, confident, and brave. Alice had to have some faith in her plan. The pixie relaxed into her mate's touch and stepped in to her arms

"I just don’t like being away from you Bella." Alice voiced her concerns in a whispered sob.

Esme looked as if she were about to cry herself and turned away from the scene. The mother wished that she had been able to go along with the small group of three. The human girl that was so important to Alice, had become a vital part of their family. Carmen saw her friend in distress and hugged her tightly. Carlisle and the rest of the Cullen's tried to ease their mothers worry and gathered around her.

Bella and Alice went over to Esme next and the entire family gathered into a large group hug. Emmett had even convinced Rosalie to join in as well. The ice cold blonde set aside her indifference for the human and wrapped her arms around her mother, sister, and her sister's mate. Jasper used his gift to relax and reassure the family. They needed that sense of security now.

Alice and her mate shared one last, long kiss before Tanya ushered her away to Edward's Volvo sedan. Bella didn’t let go of Alice's hand until the tips of their fingers were dragged away from each other. It was hard saying goodbye, even if it was only for a few days.

________________________________

The trip to Arizona was long, but not as long as she would've expected. Edward's driving was just as fast, if not faster than Alice's.

_"Damn vampires and their need for speed."_

Bella thought as she sat in the back seat just behind Tanya. Edward looked over to his wavy blonde mate and held out his hand. She smiled and took it instantly. The couple was drawing strength from one another. Bella looked on in jealousy. If only Alice could be with her now. She would feel braver, she would feel safer. She had no reason to feel unsafe with her two companions, it just felt _different_ with Alice.

As they reached the hotel, Edward took their bags to the front desk while Bella looked at the restaurant and lobby. It was massive, with a crystal chandelier in the center of the large domed ceiling. Bella felt so out of placed and massively under dressed for this place. The boy turned to her and told her not to worry as he walked over to her and they walked to their room.

Bella and the two vampires got to their room and sat on the beds that were provided. Her stomach began to rumble and Tanya had insisted that they order room service for her. With how the restaurant was downstairs, she didn’t think that they would have just a simple burger and fries. That's what she was craving at the moment. Bella looked over the menu and found the fancy version of her craving.

The meal came up in record time and Bella picked at the truffle fries but dove head first into the rare cheeseburger. There was mayonnaise, mustard, and American cheese on it. When the fancy wagyu beef melted in her mouth, so did she. Never had Bella eaten something this good before.

Edward went to go hunt when the girls got settled in the room so it was just her and Tanya. The blonde was certainly friendly enough but there were so many things that she didn’t know about her newly acquired vampire family. Trying to find a suitable topic of conversation as Tanya stood watch at the window, Bella spoke up.

"So what's your story, Tanya?" She asked inquisitively.

Tanya's lips cracked into a smile.

"My story is not for the faint of heart, Bella."

Wiping her mouth with a silk napkin, the human insisted.

"Neither was Alice's."

"No, I suppose not." The blonde responded. Her eyes glazed over with memory as she recounted her earliest memory.

_________________________________

Tanya's POV

I was born in Slovakia during the 1000's. It was a very dark time, filled with plague and death. One such sickness took the lives of my parents, leaving me in the care of my great-aunt Sasha. She looked so young and beautiful that I found it odd to call her my great aunt. As I lived with her I found out that she was a vampire. She never went in the sun, always staying inside unless it was rainy outside. She fed from cows, chickens, and other farm animals in the night while the other villagers were sleeping. Her eyes were a marvelous golden color that was so mesmerizing to me.

She was so lonely, so sad. Another sickness ravaged our town and I became ill. It was such a harmful plague that killed even the smallest of us. Sasha watched as I was overcome with it and became even sadder. She cared for me during that time and genuinely thought I would get better. I was starting to feel better; the symptoms went away and I was actually able to get out of bed. But a couple weeks later I just collapsed. I began throwing up again and coughing up blood when I wasn't heaving.

My aunt and I knew I was going to die. I didn’t want to leave her alone, it broke my heart to do so. She looked me in the eye one day before I went to sleep, unsure if I would wake the next morning. Her cold hand took mine and she asked me the most important question a vampire could ask anyone.

"Do you want to stay with me?"

I couldn’t think of a better answer other than yes. I nodded my head instantly and she bit into my neck. At first I thought I was going to die from the pain and the burning, but as my heart slowed, it all began to dissipate. There were tears in Sasha's eyes as she listened to my heartbeat slow. My eyes closed for the final time and I felt my heart stop. It wasn't scary or painful, it was just how it worked.

I woke up three days later with a burning sensation in my throat and copper eyes staring down at me. Sasha wasn't just my great aunt anymore, she became my mother. My first century as a vampire Kate and Irina joined our little family. We hunted animals together and moved more times than anyone on this earth could count. But one day, we got separated from Sasha and went to go look for her. The other's and I searched for her for days, years even. The only thing we found of her was an arm.

Kate, Irina, and myself knew that she was dead. We screamed and wanted to cry as our mother was taken from us. We had no idea who had done it or why, just that she was gone. It was a hard pill to swallow for a long time. The three of us lost ourselves in becoming what we feared we would if Sasha wasn’t with us. We used our bodies to get what we wanted. It wasn’t hard during those times. We each found our share of nightly companions, they shared their blood with us willingly and we drank our fill. The guilt we felt after each deed became too much and we reverted back to our original diet, hoping that our mother would one day forgive us for what we had done.

_____________________________________________

Present

Bella cried silently as she listened to Tanya's origin. To have someone that you cared for so needlessly ripped from you; not knowing if they had suffered. The human dabbed at her eyes with her napkin, not wanting the blonde to catch her crying.

A knock at the door sounded and the girls turned their attention to the ruckus.

"House Keeping." A voice rang out. Tanya went to the door to open it out of confusion. They didn’t call for the service; and where was Edward? He should've been back by now.

Everything happened in slow motion after that. As Tanya opened the door, there was indeed a maid there with a cart of cleaning supplies, but behind her with his teeth in his neck was Riley. His short cropped hair covered his head as he drank from the poor woman. As soon as he heard the door open, he released his latest victim and raced into the hotel room.

The burley man threw a heavy punch at Tanya's face. Bella screamed in fear as the blonde blocked the thunderous blow.

"Bella run!"

The human did as she was told and put her feet into high gear. Just as she was about to head down the hall however, a head of fiery red curls and glowing red eyes blocked her path.

"Hello Bella. I believe we have an appointment." Victoria purred out.

A white hand slapped her across the face and suddenly, everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course the couple I had accompany Bella included the telepath. He would be able to read the minds of any intruder, but of course he's not there when Victoria and Riley grab Bella. While Tanya and Riley duke it out, where could the mastermind of this little group be? That will be the next chapter. Don't worry, the finale is coming shortly 😉😁.
> 
> Side note for any Twihards reading this: I know that Sasha was killed by the Volturi for creating Vasili, but that little boy is not in my story. This gives any openings for twists and turns in later stories.


	25. The Villain of our Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is meant to put the POV of James's coven in your mind. It tells of how the three found Bella in the first place. The first part takes place while the Cullen's and Bella make their plan. The second is when the three are on their way to Phoenix, etc, etc.

The previous day lead James, Victoria, and Riley in an abandoned warehouse overlooking the docks in Seattle. This city had been their hunting ground for months, but the newest member of their little group couldn’t contain himself when it came to eating. Victoria was picking her teeth from the muscle and sinew that she sucked the blood from with their last victim.

James was busy fiddling with his lighter and looking out a window up in the banister. The blood still staining his chest and mouth. He was a savage that much was certain. Riley was busy playing with numerous body parts. Stepping around the severed head of their latest victim, he brought his foot back and kicked it over to the other side of the dirty deserted building.

"Ooh and he scores! Goal!!" Riley yells as he holds up his hand running in large circles.

"Shut up you idiot." Victoria said as she now looked at her dirty nails. The woman looked as if she hadn’t had a pedicure in years; hell she looked like she didn’t know what a pedicure was.

In his full state, Riley didn’t even hear the red head as he looked up to the other man.

"Hey, why don’t we go after that girl in Forks? You're the best tracker around. Surely you can find out where she is now." The boy had an idea of where she lived considering that the family that cared for her had a permanent residence in the small town.

He felt a sharp slap in the back of his head after that.

"Dammit! You stupid bitch, what the hell?"

Riley yelled in pain rubbing the now sore spot.

"You don’t even know what's there do you?" Victoria stated looking deep into his eyes to convey her fear.

"Hey I'm just saying, we're vampires. We drink the blood of humans, so our strength and speed are even greater than the ones that drink that nasty animal stuff. You said so yourself James, it only holds us back from our true potential." Riley pointed to the cross beam far above his head.

James swirled his head around to look at the young nomad. Taking his coven mate's words into consideration, he closed his lighter one final time and dropped down from his perch. His feet hit the ground with a loud thud and his landing even cracked the cement floor beneath them. James looked angry at having his choices questioned but then it was as if a lightbulb went off in his brain.

"You're right. We are stronger, we are superior. With my tracking skills, Victoria's survival skills, and your strength, that girl's blood is as good as mine." The blonde didn’t realize the pronoun trouble until Riley spoke up.

"I think you mean ours." He gritted through his teeth.

James slapped the man on his broad shoulders and agreed. There were a little obstacles in their way but that was what made the hunt more exciting.

____________________________________

The three made their way back to the small town and avoided any prying eyes. Bella's scent wafted over them like a mouthwatering piece of meat. They growled at the pleasurable feeling coming over them. They raced into the forest with James in the lead. Victoria was hot on his heels and Riley brought up the rear. The evil glint in their eyes told a story that would not be forgotten. They searched for her for hours. James smelled her in one direction while his companions went in two totally different ones.

Blinded by his hunger and the scent leading him away, he didn’t realize that it was getting weaker until it was too late. High up in a tree, the blonde sat there thinking about what was possibly going on. Then he smelled the girl again. He ran to the nearest location until he found a large house. The windows were large enough to see through and while he didn’t see anyone or anything, that didn’t mean that Bella wasn’t hiding somewhere.

James crashed through the front door and went from room to room looking for the tasty human. It was strange, he hadn't smelled someone that good in a long time. The blood sang to him like Mary Alice's had all of those years ago. James swore to himself that he would not lose another target. Not while he still roamed this land.

In an office upstairs, James came across a small package. It looked like a box that was large enough to require two hands holding it. He unwrapped the box and opened the lid, smiling at what was inside. If little Mary Alice had found this instead of the girl, it would be that much more torturous. The blonde man continued the search in the house and found no sign of his target. Now he was getting frustrated. His eyes filled with black as his rage overcame him. Punching a hole in a nearby wall, he ran over to where Riley and Victoria gathered.

"She's not anywhere in this damned town." Victoria growled out, really wanting to hit something.

James paced trying to calm his nerves. He wasn’t going to let another one get away. The song was too sweet, too soothing to his ears. It was quiet where they stood. So quiet that they heard nothing. No animals, no trees rustling in the distance, it was kind of eerie.

But then a light humming washed over the blonde's body. It was the song. The blood was calling to him even if it wasn’t aware of it. The tiny sound gave him a tingling sensation all over. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. It was faint, but the song was still there. James smiled as he came to the realization that the Cullen's had moved the human. She wasn’t in town.

Slapping his forehead, James smiled as he started running. His two coven mates taking off seconds later.

_________________________________________

The sweet melody led them to a place called Phoenix. The was setting, and was about to descend on the horizon when they arrived. Each of the three looked up the building in front of them and came up with a plan. James saw the one known as Edward take his leave into the distance. No doubt to hunt for some disgusting animal. Quieting his thoughts James went after him while the other two went up to where the human was staying. James gave the small parcel he took from the Cullen home and gave it to Riley, spouting specific instructions on what to do with it.

Once a suitable distance away, the vegetarian took off running and James followed along. He was hungry and these fools were keeping him from his next meal. Keeping his mind clear, he ran after the boy. Hopefully as he dealt with this one, Victoria and Riley would both be enough to grab the girl.

They ran the 90 miles in the blink of an eye. There were plenty of bears in the area for Edward to feed on and as he drank from the animal, that's when James went in for his own kill. He charged forward and grasped the brunette across the waist, pinning him to a nearby tree. Edward hissed and growled as his back hit the bark. He tried to move, but the nomad seemed to strong.

"Taking her from me was a very, _very,_ bad idea."

___________________________________________

Victoria hauled the girl over her shoulder while Riley dealt with the blonde in the hotel room. It wasn’t a hard task but there was the fact that they had left the dead body of the maid there in the damned hallway. Everything was getting out of hand. Sure the human smelled good, better than any she had in a long time; since Riley in fact. What was up with this chick? Victoria thought as she carried her cargo over to where they had agreed to meet.

The building was boarded up but that did stop the redhead from busting in. She set Bella down on the dusty dirty ground and looked at her setting. It looked to be an abandoned ballet studio. Mirrors on the wall went from floor to ceiling and encased the entire area, except the entrance. Going over to one of the sheets of glass, she looked at her reflection and was reminded of her human life. It had been a hard one, being the second illegitimate to a scullery maid and her master. Over the years she had been beaten just for being noticed.

One solace she found was dance. She and her older sister Anne would dance for hours as children. It was a happy memory. They would dance all around their attic room, no doubt causing quite the ruckus for others. Victoria shook her head to clear it of the thought. It was in the past. Now she had to think about how to preserve her survival. She knew that the young pixie would see her little human here in the ballet studio and no doubt call for assistance. They would be outnumbered again. She took one last look at the knocked out human and curled her lip into a sneer before disappearing from sight once more. The door slammed behind her on the way out.

Her instinct to survive was more potent than the mate bond she shared with the blonde tracker. Surely he would come out of this fight alive. There was no one that could beat James in a one on one fight. Not a single soul. The man had even taken down a werewolf because he wanted a challenge. So, she left the city and waited for her mate to return to her.

___________________________________________

Edward screamed in pain as one leg and one arm were ripped from his body. They were tossed to the side by the red eyed nomad, and with a evil smile on the mans lips he reached for Edwards head. That's when something rang in his pocket. James reached into his pants to retrieve the phone that he had stolen from one of his latest victims. The voice on the other line was Riley. He smiled as he greeted his coven mate.

"We have her." Was all he said.

James promptly hung up the phone without a single word and crouched down to Edward's level.

"I'm going to leave you alive, pretty boy. You'll be the one I leave alive because you will tell your family that I have taken sweet, innocent, Bella from you. You thought you could beat me by spreading her scent, deceiving me; but I saw passed your little trick." The blonde got up and spit at the telepath's remaining foot.

He raced off into the distance with one goal in mind. A goal that would soon be achieved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the second to last chapter of this story. Alice's POV is coming next. I did look up any National forests in AZ and found that Tonto was the largest and had bears there so that's what I went with. Eddy boy is fine and so is Tanya. They're just going to be out of commission for a while.


	26. All or Nothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the glorious fight scene between Alice and James. That's the short and sweet summary of it all.

Alice paced, waiting for a sign. Any damn sign that would tell her that Bella was safe. She knew that they had reached their destination in record time because of her vision and a text message she had received from Tanya. The two also had a brief conversation as Bella ate her room service meal. However, over the next hour and a half, there was no word from anyone. Not Tanya, not Edward, or Bella. That was the one person she wanted to hear from the most.

She wanted to hear her sweet voice in her ear, wanted to hear that she was safe and that they would be reunited soon. What was taking so long. Rosalie and Kate had gone with her to spread Bella's scent and both girls tried to ease her doubts. Tanya was the best fighter in their group, and the more experienced. They knew that if any trouble came their way, that their sister would overcome it.

Alice took a hand and weaved it through her short spikey hair. Even with the others telling her that everything should be fine, would be fine, it did nothing to ease her fears. Then her phone finally buzzed in her pocket. Smiling when she saw that it was her mate, Alice opened the message. That bright smile quickly turned into a look of pure unadulterated fear and anger.

"Alice?" Kate asked wondering what had brought on this sudden change in mood.

The pixie did only one thing, she crushed the phone in her hand. The little piece of technology didn’t stand a change against the vampires superior strength. Alice took off a second later; ran faster than anyone had ever seen before. It was like the devil himself was on her heels. Both blondes looked down at the still lit phone, but with the cracks and missing segments of the screen, they couldn’t make out anything from the message. Kate and Rosalie then took off after their sister, hoping to catch up to her.

When the vampires ran from the scene, the phone screen flickered to light. The missing segments of the glass did nothing to spare any details of the message as it read.

**_"Come find me, Mary Alice. I'm waiting for you."_ **

__________________________________________

Alice busted through the hotel room door and found it in a state of disarray. It looked as if a tornado had blown through here; or a fight happened. Alice looked for Tanya all around the place and opened the fancy closet to reveal her sister in law torn into pieces. Thankfully the parts weren't set aflame so the blonde would be fine once they had a moment to put her back together.

Rosalie and Kate entered a moment later. Looking a little disheveled. Their hair was a knotted mess and they looked pissed. When they saw the pixie over at the closet door, curiosity got the better of both of them and found their missing sister instantly. Kate gasped and moved to put the body parts of her fallen sister back together. Alice went around the room then looking for a sign of James, Victoria, Riley and Bella. There were none to be found.

Frantically, she looked around and wrapped her hands around her forehead, searching, begging for a vision. Then her golden eyes landed on the bed that her mate would've slept in during their stay. There, on the top pillow was a leather cuff sporting the Cullen family crest. It was a 1 3/4" strip of leather, with the metal insignia, and it was perfect for Bella. She knew her mate wasn’t the girly girl type and would've liked to wear something like this. Carlisle had it made when Bella had found out what they were; the moment that Alice had the vision.

Alice lightly placed her cold fingers on the metal of the cuff and felt her eyes water. She squeezed her eyes shut at the pain in her chest. The lion there in the family crest was shining like a beacon. It was meant to signify loyalty and protection. Alice felt useless. She felt that the crest itself was taunting her. Then she heard something that would've made her blood run cold; would've made her heart stop. Alice heard the painful scream of her mate in the distance. It was muffled, like Bella was trying to contain it, but the sound rang in her ears like an alarm. She dropped the cuff on the floor and her golden eyes went dark with fury as she sped out into the hallway, not waiting for the remaining girls to leave with her.

The power went out all over the hotel soon after Alice went out into the hallway. Kate's fingers sparked with the electrical energy her gift was known for. Thankfully she was able to send out a shockwave powerful enough to replicate an EMP. The entire hotel went dark. Humans wouldn’t be able to see their hand in front of their face, but for a vampire, it was still very easy to see.

Kate and Rosalie helped their fallen sister back together and helped her stand soon after. Tanya massaged the back of her neck still feeling the tension there. She blamed herself for letting the nomad get the jump on her. She was older than any of the Cullen's. Tanya should've been able to hold her own, but it was as if he were a demon with the strength he possessed.

"I'm sorry Alice, I couldn’t stop him. Or Victoria. She took Bella, I don’t know where."

Alice was overcome with a vision then and her body just stopped. Time seemed to stop as the sight before her changed from the dark hallway and into another building entirely. Glass littered the floor and she could see Bella's sleeping reflection in them. She saw James crush her leg with his foot and heard the bone crunch as she screamed. Her green eyes filled with pain and fear.

James then took a metal bar and ripped it away from the wall. It was shiny with small spots of rust. Bringing it over his shoulder, he slammed it down into Bella's unbroken leg. Once again she screamed out in pain and tears escaped her tightly closed eyes.

The tracker put his hand onto the blood that was seeping from the appendage and licked his fingers clean. Moaning deeply at the heavenly taste, he gripped Bella's hair and jerked her head back hard enough that it slammed against the support pillar that she was sitting against. Looking deep into Bella's green eyes, James uttered a challenge to the pixie. He knew about her gift and now used it against her.

"You're girl and I are gonna have such good fun Mary Alice."

The vision ended and her eyes were once again met with dark narrow walls once more.

"I'm coming Bella."

_'Just hold on.'_

____________________________________

Keeping to the shadows and remaining unseen were among the first lessons a vampire is taught when they are reborn. Thanks to the dark night and the fact that no one was out gave Alice the perfect opportunity to run through the streets unhindered. Alice could hear her mate scream every so often and it made her chest ache and her eyes burn.

Bella's sweet melodic voice was now marred with pain, and each second that passed was one second too many away from her, protecting her. Alice vowed to herself, long before the two had met properly, that she would always be there for Bella, to save her when the time came. Now she had to prove it. Although the painful cries were hard to hear, it lead Alice straight to the building that held her love inside. Along with the monster that was torturing her.

As she went through the door, another scream rang out over the dusty abandoned building. Alice in turned yelled at the scene. James was there holding Bella's arm in his hands and biting into the skin. His sharp teeth taking no care whatsoever as they pierced the soft warm flesh. Alice could see how much blood he was taking from the girl and how fast Bella was losing consciousness.

The pixie raced forward and tackled the hunter, throwing him off of Bella. If Alice could cry she would at the sight before her. Her legs no longer had the strength to carry her as she fell to the ground next to her mate. Bella was breathing heavily, shaking from the pain and shock that was now coursing through her.

"I'm here now, Bella. Everything is going to be ok." Alice said with unshed tears in her eyes.

Bella looked so tired, so weak as she laid there shaking on the floor. Alice surveyed the injuries that she had sustained. From the broken leg, to the large amounts of scratches and slight burns to her skin. How did James have the time to induce such pain and suffering on the girl. Alice had been not far behind them when she got the text message from Bella's phone which now lay crushed in a heap of metal and plexiglass.

"Don’t make promises you can't keep, Mary Alice."

Upon hearing her human name she gently laid Bella's head back onto the ground and turned her attention back to the blonde man. James dusted himself off as he strode up out of the now pile of rubble. Her eyes grew dark at the mere sight of him. She wanted to heave and spew insults at him before ripping him to shreds but that was no longer an option.

Picturing her makers face in her mind, and Bella's injured state, she could feel her inhuman strength become that much more powerful. There was only so much that the vegetarian could take, and this was her breaking point.

Without another word, Alice shot forward with her fist held tightly over her shoulder. She threw a punch that loudly cracked against the man's face. The hit sounded like a boom in the building and it echoed, shaking the very foundation. The tracker flew back into the mirrored wall behind him, shattering anything that he landed on. As if following his body as it flew through the air, Alice was right there stepping on broken shards, punching anything her fist would find.

James balanced himself out and smiled as he too had a few blows of his own to dish out. He threw a kick at Alice that landed in her midsection. She grunted and felt the cracks in her skin. It was an uncomfortable feeling to be sure. Alice then heard her mates heart beat race from the venom that was now coursing through her.

She heard the door open behind her and knew that her family was now there with her. Edward, Tanya, Kate, Rosalie, as well as Carlisle and Esme were now present. Alice heard Esme cry out when she saw the state that Bella was now in, and the pixie knew that she needed to finish this quickly.

Alice threw a round house kick at James that was aimed for his head, but he easily caught her by the ankle and threw her into a support pillar. The impact itself broke the structure and Alice laid there on her stomach as concrete rubble fell over her. The tracker took this as his chance to go over and taunt the tiny vampire. He picked her up around the neck and whispered in her ear. The stench of his breath wafted over Alice's skin and it made her shiver in disgust.

"You were alone when you found me, that makes you faster than the rest; but your not stronger. Not by a long shot."

She growled in return saying in defiance.

"I'm strong enough to kill you."

Her windchime voice echoed with anger and brutality as she threw herself back into a wall with James still attached to her. The two collided with a wall on the other side of the large studio and some old cement dust fluttered around them. The collision made James let go. Alice quickly turned and now had him by the throat. She could hear Bella's screams as James's venom now coursing through her. Alice knew that she needed to get it out of her, she wasn’t going to let _his_ venom be the one to change her. She saw Carlisle over her mate's writhing body. Bella was sweating now and Alice knew that now was the time.

"This is for my maker." Alice ripped off an arm.

James screamed in pain as his limb was now torn from him.

"This is for my mate." She ripped off a leg.

The tracker fell to the ground with the loss of his balance.

"And this, this is for me." The pixie grasped his head, twisted and pulled with great effort. She could hear her enemy scream as the tendons and skin began to shred away from his neck.

Alice flew back as the head that now laid in her arms was now the only thing she held. James's once red eyes now a dark grey, were wide in pain and defeat, his mouth open from the painful scream that erupted. Alice then got up and went back to the torso of the man she had been angry at for so long. She swore vengeance upon him long ago, and now it had come to fruition. Alice looked at the body for a second before kneeling down and searching his pockets for something. She found a silver zippo lighter in one of his inner coat pockets and flicked it alight. The orange flame now burning bright in her gaze.

"Alice!" Esme yelled as she held Bella's shaking body close to her own. The girl was sweating profusely and the mother only hoped that the chill of her own skin was enough to cool her. Kate went up to her sister and took the lighter from her, making sure to destroy every limb, every part of James so that he would never hurt anyone again.

The pixie went over to her mother, father, brother, and sisters.

"She only has minutes left Alice. The venom is going through her bloodstream quickly. We can either let the change happen or we can take it from her." Carlisle said, calmly listening to Bella's quickened heart rate.

Not wasting another second, Alice took a deep breath and held it as she bit down once more into the other angry bite mark on her mate's arm. Bella screamed once more in pain as the fangs went into her. The pixie looked to her mother and her father and began pulling out Bella's blood. She found the metallic taste in her mouth quite enjoyable as she drank, and yet it was tainted with the sourness of the vampire venom.

It didn’t take long for the process to be complete and once it was over, Alice sat up and wiped her mouth with her shirt sleeve before looking at Bella's unconscious form. Thankfully there was a heart still beating in the teen's chest. It was faint, but still there. Alice took her Bella into her arms and sobbed as she held her close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I lied, there's going to be one more chapter after this it may be short, it may be long. Who knows🤷♀️ , but I'll probably have it up by the end of the day. Thanks for stickin' with me guys 😎✌👍💕💖.


	27. At Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title has a double meaning to it. It means it's the last chapter of this first installment in the series, and it also means that this is where Bella and Alice finally get to go to the school dance. It's a pretty long chapter, but a lot is also revealed in these last moments.

When Bella awoke, she had no idea what day it was, or what was going on. The only thing that she knew was that she was in a hospital bed and gown, with tubes in her nose feeding her oxygen. She felt the cool air in her nose making it dry. Bella moved her arm to take it out and everything hurt. She felt a dull burn in her right arm and saw it bandaged with plenty of gauze and medical tape.

Her legs were a completely different story. One of them was in a caste and hiked above her head, the other was also wrapped in gauze bandages and tape. She went down to touch her thigh and hissed as she felt a sharp pain there.

Bella's throat was dry as she tried to call for someone. Emmett, who was standing by the door, rushed in and sat down in the empty chair beside the bed.

"Hey Bella Bear." He said fondly with large tears in his eyes. The moment he heard that his new baby sister was in trouble, he knew that he should've been there with the rest of them. It took him, Jasper, Irina, and Laurent too long to get there and now Bella was in a hospital bed.

It really hurt the big teddy bear to see her like this.

The teen went to sit up and look at the man properly. Her back was very stiff and she felt the bones crack with every movement. Flashes of memory washed over her as she began to remember what had happened. The baseball game, the red eyed vampires, being taken by Victoria, Alice fighting James and saving her. She flexed her right hand into a fist and felt something on her forearm. That's where the slight burn had been coming from.

It felt like a large bite mark. A realization came over her then. James had bit her. He had taken some of her blood. She was going to become a vampire; but Alice came and sucked the tracker's venom out of her. The pixie made the burning pain go away, but she also made the change go away. Bella didn’t understand. Didn’t Alice want her to become a vampire. Weren't they meant to be together forever? She pondered this for a long moment.

Esme entered the room moments later and knelt down beside the bed. Kate and the other's of the Denali clan were next. Along with Edward, it was starting to become a little cramped. Everyone had come by to see if she was awake, even Rose. Bella looked all around the room for Alice, but her girlfriend was no where to be found. Esme knew what the girl was looking for and spoke up.

"Alice went to go hunt, darling. It was a hard couple of days for her."

Emmett chimed in as well.

"Yeah she didn’t leave your side for almost a week."

A week? That's how long they had been here? Bella couldn’t believe it, but she had a feeling that she was out of it for a while. Edward was the first to find out that Alice was coming back, he heard her thoughts from down the street.

The pixie took the elevator to the upper floor where Bella was being kept for observation. A hiking accident was what they told the other doctors and nurse when they brought Bella's broken body to the hospital. Of course with the entire family of vampires it was easy to get people to believe them.

Alice stepped out of the elevator doors as soon as it reached the designated floor and stood outside of Bella's room for a long moment. Her family was talking to her about what had transpired before today. She listened to each story and waited patiently for some of them to disperse. Then when it was time, everyone filed out and walked toward the waiting room. Hopefully they could leave this dreary place and go home soon. Edward was the last to leave and he placed a hand on his sister's shoulder.

"Go to her, Alice." He said comfortingly. His voice washed over her and gave her the confidence to move.

With one foot in front of the other and her hands in her pockets, Alice looked at the floor as she entered the room. She was so full of shame and fear that Bella would leave, that it took her a moment to look up at her. When she did though, all fear and shame was gone. There was only love, and thankfulness, and joy, upon seeing Bella. The human held up her arms with great effort and waited for her girlfriend to come to her.

Alice cried out before rushing to her and burying her face into Bella's chest. The pixie wished that she could feel the sweet relief of tears streaming down her cheeks one last time, but she knew it was never to be. Alice climbed into the tiny hospital bed and molded herself to Bella's side, holding her waist as tightly as she was able. The calm and steady heartbeat under her ear was enough to lull her into a deep sleep if the pixie was able to do so.

Bella lightly kissed the top of Alice's head and cupped the back of it, feeling the soft spikey hair beneath her fingers. It was strange, because even though Bella's life was in certain peril, she felt fine. She felt a calm wash over her that nothing to do with Jasper's ability. It was the fact that Alice was here, in her arms, dry sobbing and clutching her hospital gown. That type of tangibility was something that she never wanted to let go of; she never wanted to lose it.

_________________________________________

Over the next few weeks, Bella and the Cullen's returned to Forks and Bella had a ton of explaining to do. Charlie had been livid when she came home with a broken leg and several stitches. Alice took full responsibility for the 'accident' and apologized profusely. The chief had a hard time letting his daughter out of his sight after that.

Bella was a fast healer though and the caste itself came off in no time. Carlisle saw to the removal himself. The girl could finally move her toes as the plaster and bandages came off. Heaving a sigh of relief, she was then given her bootie. She groaned at having to wear it for another couple of weeks, even during the dance that was scheduled.

Alice took her mate to the clearing that they called their oasis. Their sanctuary away from the chaos of others. She carried Bella to their spot and sat her down on the picnic blanket she had spread out. On the sheet there was also a basket filled with goodies that she and Esme had prepared for Bella. Ever since their encounter with James and then his subsequent defeat, Alice made it a point to always look into Bella's future; trying to see for any further danger that may linger ahead.

There was always the fear of Victoria and Riley coming back to avenge their fallen comrade, but no such vision had come to pass. So when the two got settled in their spot on the picnic blanket, Alice asked her girlfriend to accompany her to the coming school dance. Of course Bella accepted and the two cuddled and kissed during their remaining time there.

When the night had actually arrived, Bella enlisted the help of her two best friends, Angela and Jessica, to help her with getting ready. They flat ironed Bella's long brown locks and put it in a half up and half down look. There was a fancy clip in her hair to hold the tiny ponytail and as they put the slight amount of make up on, Bella's phone rang.

She looked at the phone in confusion, for she had just seen Alice not too long ago. It was an unknown number so when she answered it, the greeting came out as more of a question.

"Hello?"

"Hey Bella." Rachel's voice sounded over the other line.

"Is it okay if I come over?" The native girl sounded a little nervous asking the question but Bella eagerly agreed to see her friend. She must've gotten a new phone.

Rachel had arrived soon after the call had ended. She greeted Charlie and took the stairs two at a time. Knocking on the Bella's bedroom door, Rachel waited for confirmation to enter. She entered the room slowly and covered her eyes to make sure everyone was decent before taking her hand away from her eyes.

Jessica instantly blushed at the sight of the strong and tall bronze goddess; Angela did as well but concentrated more on getting ready for the dance. Angela was applying her lip gloss when Bella limped her way over to Rachel and hugged her around the waist. The teen already had her undershirt and slacks on, there were only a few missing pieces to the ensemble.

"You clean up nicely, Bells." Rachel said with a smile.

Even though the girl smelled of the other vampires, there was still the lingering scent of something else; something she couldn’t put her finger on yet. Bella hit her friend in the shoulder at the tease and went back to getting her vest and jacket on. Even though it had been Alice to ask her to the dance, Bella had still taken it upon herself to get her pixie girlfriend a corsage. It matched her eyes with the bright gold rose with some small patches of baby's breath surrounding it. She really hoped Alice liked it.

The two old friends caught up with one another and included Jessica and Angela in their conversation. It was almost time to go when Rachel stood up and got a good look at her friend. Bella's bright green eyes looked tired and slightly dull. Had she been sleeping well? She wondered this silently because she knew that any talk about the Cullen's would end up in a debate.

Jessica, Bella, and Angela heard the doorbell ring and went down to see who was at the door. Could it be their perspective dates? Charlie of course was there to open the door before anyone else got there first. Alice's face smiled as she saw the police chief and hugged him hello. The two had patched things up soon after they had returned from Arizona. Charlie's scruffy chin hid his return smile as he yelled upstairs to tell Bella that her date was here.

The two other girls descended the stairs first and went out the front door. Each of them squealed as they saw the stretch limo and climbed in post haste.

When it was Bella's turn to go down, Alice couldn’t take her eyes off of her. Seeing her mate in that suit brought so many passionate feelings to the surface. The vampire could feel herself salivating at the sight of her. Her pupils dilated as she took deep, calming breaths. Bella reached the last step and in her flat shoes, her bright green eyes bore into Alice; just like so many times before.

The pixie didn’t even notice the native until Rachel got to the middle of the staircase. Both girls looked at each other and nodded once. With Rachels's path blocked, she couldn’t head out the door and so she listened to the almost sickeningly sweet words that were said next.

"You're a vision, my Bella." Alice said her voice dripping in arousal.

She took a small package out from behind her back and presented it to her girlfriend. Alice opened the lid to reveal a lapel corsage that matched her eyes. It was a turquoise iris, surrounded by tiny red carnation bulbs. It was beautiful and Bella let the tiny vampire attach it to her jacket.

"You're so beautiful Alice." Bella said as she took in her mate's appearance.

Alice wore a dark blue layered dress that came up into a halter around her neck. It left her shoulders free and Bella could imagine herself grasping them as they kissed passionately later in the evening. She also gave Alice her corsage and wrapped it around her wrist. Charlie went to get the camera to take pictures to remember the moment.

After a few snapshots, Kate Denali came up to the open threshold, in her white Marylin Monroe style gown to see what was taking so long. Rachel's breath caught in her throat as everything seemed to stop around her. Her heart beat quickened as she looked upon the blonde in front of her. The copper eyes then turned upon her dark brown ones and her mouth suddenly went dry.

Kate herself felt jittery and couldn’t get any of her limbs to calm down. Her power was brimming to the surface and it took everything in her to keep it at bay. As she looked at the bronze girl with a short bob hair cut and dark brown eyes, she felt every part of her fall into place. Every memory, every good part about her life seemed dull in comparison as she looked at Rachel Black.

Alice looked at the two girls and had to all but drag her sister out the door while somehow holding onto Bella's hand. Once they all got into the limo, Alice snapped her fingers in the blonde's face. Kate gasped for unneeded breath.

She turned to Bella and asked.

"Who the hell was that?"

Bella looked confused for a moment but still answered the question.

"That's Rachel Black. She's one of my best friends."

Jessica sighed and dreamily added.

"Yeah, she lives on the reservation so she doesn’t go to school with us. It’s a shame really."

Alice and Kate shared a look, and the blonde quietly said.

"Oh Fuck."

The statement was too quiet for any of the humans to hear, but her sister heard it loud and clear. It seemed that Katrina had finally found her mate.

___________________________________

The ride to the dance was very uneventful after they had left Bella's house. The humans of the group talked animatedly about what they were going to dance to and what sort of pictures they would take. At one point of the trip, Jessica took out her phone and took a selfie with all of her friends. Kate being the tallest, along with Bella were in the back of the photo; while Angela, Alice, and Jessica were in the front.

They took a few more snappies in the car and by their fourth or fifth one, they had arrived. Jessica squealed in excitement and got out first. Angela rolled her eyes at her old friends antics and quickly followed suit. Kate sighed suddenly sad about going stag and grumbled as she got out. Alice looked out the tinted window to see that the remaining family members had arrived and were now standing on the steps leading to the auditorium. Irina looked at her sister and briefly wondered what was wrong. Kate waved it off however, telling her that she didn’t exactly know, but they would talk about it later.

Irina took Laurent's arm and he led them up the stairs. It was pretty great that Edward and Irina could bring their mate's to the dance. Tanya had her curly hair up in a high ponytail and wore a bright baby blue dress. It kind of looked like Cinderella's ball gown but without the hoop skirt.

Edward was dressed in a classic black tux and a white undershirt and a bow tie around his neck. Emmett wore a deep red velvet suit with a black button down shirt underneath. It looked very gothic for the normally cheerful bro. However, when Bella saw Rosalie, she could understand why he wore that color scheme. The ice queen was currently wearing a rose red gown that went all the way to the floor. Her hair had been slightly curled as always but her lips were tinged with a deep red lipstick. In all honesty, Rosalie looked like a movie star.

Laurent looked really nice in his dark green suit and Irina accompanied his color scheme with a very simple green gown. It had rhinestones on the sleeves and the chest area, but other than that it was a very simple dress, which had been surprising for Bella. Jasper of course also went stag, but wore a baby blue tux with black trim and a white undershirt. It was very classy.

Alice got out of the limo first and held out her hand to Bella.

"Ready?"

Bella smiled and grasped her girlfriends hand.

_________________________________

Pictures were taken and instantly bought by Alice and the rest of the crew. Then it was on to the center of the auditorium to dance and have some fun. Bella hadn't danced so much in all of her life and she was absolutely stunned that she stay upright the entire time. Alice laughed at her mate's surprise, but as the night wore on, the pixie had suddenly got serious.

She pulled Bella off to the side and away from the crowd.

"I need to talk to you."

Her human nodded and they went outside for more privacy. They walked over to the gazebo that was stationed not exactly next to the auditorium, but close enough that she could still feel the comforting presence of her family. With the familial bond the Cullen's and the Denali shared, it was amazing that they weren't related by blood.

Alice wrapped her arms around Bella's neck and the human wrapped hers around Alice's waist. Alice looked so beautiful in the moonlight that drifted in through the missing boards of the roof. There were Christmas lights wrapped around the circumference of the tiny building, but other than that, there wasn’t enough light for anyone else to be out here. The two girls swayed to the music that was echoing in the auditorium nearby and it was really a soothing melody.

As they danced, Bella looked thoughtfully into Alice's topaz eyes and asked a very meaningful question.

"Why did you save me?" Her eyes filled with concentration as she elaborated.

"You could've just let the venom spread. I would be like you right now."

"Bella, you don’t want this." Alice said as she just kept looking into Bella's bright green eyes.

For years she considered herself a monster for what she had done to her father. He wasn’t the most caring man in the world, and he did kill her mother, but that didn’t excuse the fact that Alice had been the one to end his life that fateful night. She never drank a drop of human blood after that, but the guilt had never left her. Alice didn’t want that for her mate. She wanted Bella to live a long and happy life.

In her mental scolding, she heard her girlfriend say.

"I want you; always."

Alice felt lighter than air hearing Bella say that, but the fact still remained. She looked around the area wondering if there were any other students wanting this spot, but found none.

"I'm not going to end your life for you Bella."  


"I'm already dying. Every second, I'm getting closer; getting older. I don’t want to leave you Alice; ever. I wont let my aging become a nightmare for you or for me."

The couple slowed to almost a complete stop. Alice's eyes began to grow darker. The commitment to this life was not an easy one. It was not something that one chose to be; chose to live as. But here Bella was, making a decision that would change the course of everything that her human life was supposed to be.

Alice had to be sure that this was what Bella indeed wanted for herself.

"So that's what you dream about; becoming a monster."

Alice's self abusing nature was once again rearing it's ugly head, it was a rare feat, but it happened none the less.

"I dream about being with you; forever."

The vampire then places a chilling hand on Bella's cheek, her thumb stroking the warm skin beneath it.

"Forever?"

Bella nods in affirmation, tears pooling in her eyes as she looks into the bright topaz ones of her love.

_Vision:_

_Alice is running through the forest, ready to hunt down her next meal. It’s a sunny day, where ever they now reside, her skin is shining and there's a smile plastered on her face. Bella is nowhere in sight until she sees a pack of deer in their path. With her need to feed, she ran even faster to the herd and pounced on the first largest Elk that she could find._

_Then she hears a twinkling laughter come from behind her. It was like a music to her ears. When she turns around, there is her mate. Bella Marie Swan in all of her shining glory. Her eyes are red, but there's no mistaking her heart shape face and her musical voice._

_Once Alice is done draining the Elk, she wipes her mouth clean of any blood. She walks up to her mate and kisses her hard and passionately. Moans echo throughout the trees and the birds fly away. Alice lifts Bella's arms above her head and also takes the white baseball t-shirt she is currently wearing. Throwing the offending article of clothing to the side, it is quickly forgotten as the two continue to make out. Bella and her new found strength surges forward and pins Alice to a nearby tree. The pixie's back hits the bark hard and cracks the trunk easily._

_Bella looks down at her mate and smiles. Her fangs still extended from her meal. The girls once familiar warmth is forgotten as she leans forward and licks the lone drop of Elk blood that falls slowly down Alice's chin. Bella repeats the action of shedding Alice's shirt from her lithe body and throws it away from them like it had been burning them._

_She smooths her hands down Alice's sides and they come to rest on the pixie's backside. Giving it a firm squeeze, Alice moans loudly in Bella's ear. With the newborns new sense of hearing, its loud, heavy and breathy, like nothing she had ever head before. Alice's skin is burning from her mate's touch even through the tight denim jeans she was wearing. In a blur, Bella picks Alice up and the pixie wraps her legs around her mate's waist._

_They keep kissing as Alice grinds her hips over Bella's abdomen and she moans at the delicious friction. Her mind going delirious with passion and want, the newborn vampire breaks the bruising kiss and plants her lips on Alice's neck. The pixie breaths heavily as the heat in her belly grows too much to handle._

_She drops her legs back on the ground and roughly spins around so that their positions are reversed. Even though her mate is slightly taller, Alice gains the upper hand quickly and pulls at the button on Bella's dark blue denim jeans. Bella smiles and licks her lips as the tiny metallic object flies off somewhere in the trees. They feel as well as hear each notch of the zipper come undone as Alice pulls down the metal tab. The pixie then takes her hand and weaves it down the front of Bella's pants_

_The teen mewls at the sensation of her mate's hand against her center and throws her hips up to meet her lithe fingers. Those graceful digits were enough to drive anyone mad. Alice taps her pointer finger and her middle finger over the spot that Bella wants her most._

_Bella licks at her extended fangs and responds to the wonderful, delicious torture._

_"You're a damned tease."_

_Alice laughs as she doesn’t exactly give Bella the release she wants, but kisses her sweetly on the soft flesh of her neck._

_"We're the same temperature now."_

_The pixie says as she drives her fingers home inside of her mate._

**Present:**

"Alice?" Bella asks out loud, her voice breaking through the vampire's thoughts.

The pixie shakes her head to clear it from the passionate vision she had just received.

"Every time I look into your eye's I get lost in them Bella."

"I've decided. I want to be like you. I want to stay with you Alice and you alone."

Alice looked deep into Bella's green eyes once more and began to dip her with the melody of the song playing over the speakers. She places her thumb on Bella's pulse point, feeling it jolt with anticipation. It was like music to the vampires ears, music that she never wanted to end.

"And you're ready right now?"

Bella's breathing quickened with excitement and her eyes began to flutter shut in anticipation. She bit her lip to keep from moaning aloud as she felt her girlfriends cold breath on her neck. Alice was like a goddess, so beautiful and pure. It was hard to not want a future with her. An eternity with her. That was all Bella really wanted.

"Yes." She said with confidence and utter resolution.

Waiting for the bite to come, Bella gripped her girlfriends shoulders. She felt Alice open her mouth slightly and felt her fangs extend to a point. Like the time before the Cullen family baseball game, Alice just raked them across the warm flesh of her neck. Bella felt herself shiver in response to the sharp teeth and sighed longingly. She brought her hand up to the back of Alice's head and begged her for the fangs to penetrate the skin there; begged for Alice to inject her vampire venom in to her body, begged her to make her a vampire; immortal.

It never came however. Once the pointed canines made their way across the skin, they retracted and Alice gave the quivering neck a soft and cold kiss.

"Not yet." Was all the pixie said before she brought Bella up to their original position.

That lone statement however was enough to give the human some hope at least. She knew that Alice was afraid of losing her, afraid of her changing her mind. She knew that Alice was afraid that Bella would wake up someday and not want her, be afraid of her; but that would never be the case.

Bella knew that she would have to do whatever it took to make her love see that this was what she wanted. This was the path she chose, and she would not falter now.

______________________________________

Unbeknownst to the happy couple dancing in the gazebo, in an empty classroom high above them, a lone figure was watching them. One with bright red hair and even redder eyes. Her curly locks were tied up in a bun, and her dress was what one might wear to a school dance, but she was anything but human. Turning around to plan her escape from the area, Victoria swore her revenge; for James wasn’t just a coven mate to her. Oh no, James was the man who had captured her heart and soul. He was the one that gave her a lust for life and adventure.

She had longed for it after her older sister had perished, and now the both of them were gone. Victoria walked away and swore her revenge on Alice Cullen and her family. And the redhead knew just how to do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> with this being the last chapter of the first installment, I'd just like to take a moment to really thank each and every one of you for the kudos and all of the comments on this work. Every one of them brought my spirits up a little higher each time I felt unmotivated to write. I have written this story a couple of times in my head but every time I got it on the screen it just didn't feel right, but this one, writing this felt as natural to me as breathing. I really appreciate you all and hope you stick around for the next one. may the shenanigans keep on going 💕✌😁😉.


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